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Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 



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Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

A Brief Biography 

Compiled by 

MARY CARR MERRITT 



,c Ueach us the lesson of his life 
The secret of his power. 




J. F. Elwell Publishing Company 
247 S. Broadway, Los Angeles 







3$S: 






mg 





Copyright 1909 

by 

JXCary Carr oKCerritt 






©CI. A 253 9 38 



Vo the (Mother and Father 

who have been the inspiration and jo)) 

of his life 

is this book dedicated. 

tMary Carr £%Cerritt. 



"His purity of thought and feeling dis- 
played the nobility of his nature. No coarse 
expression marred his spoken or written 
word. 

"For all that was noble and tender and 
sweet he had a strong affection. He was 
one of those who desired to be pure in 
heart." 

Sunday School Times. 



Pref 



ace 



Standing on a hill in the Shenandoah Valley we 
watched the sun as it crept slowly up the Blue Ridge 
mountains. 

Here we could detect dim shapes and there watch the 
deepening shadows till almost before we were aware of it day 
was upon us and the sun was sending its influence of cheer 
and comfort over all. 

Such was the life of Rev. J. W. T. McNiel. Growing up 
in the retirement of his Virginia home and so modestly 
taking his college honors we hardly knew that a man 
of worth was among us until we felt the silent power over 
our lives. 

That we might gather together some of the treasures of 
this life and share them with others is the purpose of this 
book. 

All of those who have contributed have done so out of 
a love that is ''pure, precious and permanent." 

It is our wish that in these chapters he may again speak 
to us and that through the inner vision we may look into 
those eyes, those soulful eyes, that told us of a desire to learn 
from the "peerless Teacher" and to serve mankind. 

Mary Carr Merritt. 
Oct. 22, 1909. 



Contents 

Page 
I. Boyhood 11 

II. College Days 17 

III. University of Chicago 29 

IV. Potomac, Va 35 

V. Washington, D. C 39 

VI . Albuquerque, N . M 43 

VII. Extracts from Letters 65 

VIII. Memorial Services 73 

IX. Sermons 87 



I 

BOYHOOD 



Give us the faith that made him strong, 

Aggressive, bold and true ; 
The zeal that ever prompted him 

The Master's will to do ; 
The love that sought the fallen ones 

To lead them to the cross ; 
The joy of knowing Thee, which makes 

All other gains but loss. 






BOYHOOD 

By Miss Susie McNiel, a Cousin. 

Rev. ]. W. T. McNiel was born near Rocky Mount, 
Franklin County, Va., Oct. 22, 1873. His father, Thomas J. 
McNiel, came from the hardy Scotch-Irish stock, and per- 
haps the perfectly balanced mind, the clear intellect and 
powers of perseverance that were dominant traits of the 
son, may be regarded as gifts from his fine Scotch ancestry. 
His mother was Miss Hudson, from a good old English fam- 
ily. Her life has been given to her children with a love 
and devotion rarely equaled and never excelled, and her 
sweetness of disposition, generosity, and other virtues were 
strong forces in moulding the character of her son. The 
earliest years of young McNiel's life were spent in happiest 
freedom on his father's farm. Long days filled with play 
and sunshine were his. Trudging in good-natured content 
after the men at work in the fields, rambling on the green 
hill-sides, fishing and playing in the little river or helping 
his mother about the house were his usual occupations as 
a little lad. Being of a merry and fun-loving disposition 
he was always willing and eager to join in the many pranks 
of his young comrades, and in his later years he often spoke 
with tender remembrance of the humorous incidents of these 
days. 

At the age of five his education began in a little country 
school house and even at this early date he evinced signs 
of an unusually strong intellect. As he grew older he 
became very fond of study and his evening duties were 
promptly done that he might devote the later hours to his 
lessons. 

So conscientiously did he spend his time that at the age 
of fifteen he had mastered the studies of the little school and 
taught it himself. 



14 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

At thirteen he had commenced teaching in the Sunday 
School held in an old building used as a place of worship 
by a band of Baptists. 

When in the early days the people met there to listen 
to the earnest message of their pastor, Rev. Samuel Mason, 
it seemed as if the very windows of heaven were opened 
and showers of blessings poured upon them. So earnestly 
did the pastor tell the gospel story in all its sweetness and 
simplicity and so conscientiously did his little flock aid 
him that a great revival of religion was their reward. 

Among the many who professed faith in Christ and 
were baptized was young McNiel, then only fifteen. Turning 
his face into the light of God he firmly resisted temptation ; 
and, his young soul thrilling with the hope and enthusiasm 
of youth, looked into the years of the dim future and saw, 
perhaps, the many things he was to do for his Redeemer. 

He resolved to give his life to the Master and daily 
studied the Bible for divine truth. Going out into the quiet 
shade of the trees where he could be face to face with God, 
he sought and found through prayer and careful study that 
most blessed wisdom and inspiration of all the ages. 

The beauty and uprightness of his Christian character 
soon became evident in his influence upon his associates. He 
continued teaching in the Sunday School and spent much 
time in the study of the lesson and preparation of notes for 
illustrations. For the next two years we find him living 
this truly beautiful life, in summer working with his father 
on the farm and in winter going to school. Ever present 
v/as the ambition to serve the Master in a worthier and more 
perfect manner. 

In the autumn of 1890, at the age of seventeen, he 
entered Glade Spring Academy at Glade Spring, Va., to take 
a preparatory course for Richmond College. He was in this 
school for two years and won the marked approval of the 
teachers by his diligence in study, manly bearing and purity 
of life. When this course was completed he turned to 
Richmond where he was to distinguish himself as a student 



Boyhood 1 5 

and orator. How eagerly he looked forward to the life 
before him, in all its phases ! 

As we look over even this part of his life we are led to 
exclaim, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." 



11 

COLLEGE DAYS 



God's boundless Love and arching' sky- 
Above us when we wake or sleep, 
Above us when we smile or weep, 

Above us when we live or die. 

God's endless Love ! What will it be 
When earthly shadows flee away, 
For all Eternity's bright day, 

The unfolding of that Love to see ! 

Maltbie D, Babcock. 






II 

COLLEGE DAYS 

By Rev. W. L. Richardson. 

"Sir. McNiel was born at a time when there was a grow- 
ing recognition of the importance of an education. The 
many improvements and general progress of the age created 
many problems, the solution of which requires the best 
trained minds. The natural desire for knowledge has stim- 
ulated the minds of men to an effort unrivaled, perhaps, since 
the days of the Italian Renaissance. 

Living in an age when the intellectual demands are so 
great and having decided to enter the gospel ministry, 
Mr. McNiel was not content with any thing less than the 
best preparation. To him it was folly to enter the arena 
of life not having on the whole armor of a well trained 
mind. 

As Moses spent eighty years, or two-thirds of his life, 
in preparation for the forty years' service, so it can be 
said of the subject of this sketch — by far the greater part 
of his life was spent in equipping himself to lead his fellow- 
men from the bondage of sin to the soul's freedom. Again, 
as Moses departed this life just at the time when, humanly 
speaking, he was about to receive his reward, so Mr. McNiel 
was taken a little before the close of his search after 
knowledge, and was about ready to enjoy his most coveted 
earthly reward — the dedication of himself and all his ac- 
complishments to the service of God and humanity. As 
at the time when the Israelites were about to begin their 
numerous and hard fought battles it seemed that the pres- 
ence of Moses was essential to their success, so in this 
day when the conflicts with intellectual and spiritual dark- 
ness are being fought with the greatest severity, to all that 
knew Mr. McNiel it seemed most unfortunate to lose his 
counsel and leadership. But in both cases a God of wisdom 
willed it so. 



20 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

Being bom in Franklin County, Va., near the county 
seat, Rocky Mount, he attended the public schools. Here it 
was said of him, "he learned fast." He enjoyed the full 
measure of this honor. He would either stand at the head 
of his class or greatly annoy the one who did. He partici- 
pated freely in the debating (not literary) society of the 
neighborhood when the members had under discussion 
questions of such ponderous weight as : Resolved, "That 
fire is more destructive to property than water," or "That 
a gun is of more importance to man than a dog." Though 
in eloquence he may not have equaled Cicero when expos- 
ing the conspiracy of Cataline to the Roman senate, yet in 
earnestness he might well be considered his rival. 

He graduated from Glade Spring Academy in 1892. 
During these years there grew upon him daily the im- 
pression that God had called him to the work of the min- 
istry. It was the one duty of his life. The natural man 
argued, the spiritual man triumphed. The selfish proposi- 
tions were ordered to the rear, the unselfish made to lead. 
That unselfishness was one of his characteristics until the 
day of his death. 

Later in life he heard a powerful discourse on unsel- 
fishness delivered by a visiting minister in the Grace Street 
Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., from the text : "Except 
a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth 
alone; but if it die it beareth much fruit." (John 12:24.) 
On returning to his room he said to his companion : "The 
thought of that text and sermon is the key to the most 
useful life ; that answered all my objections to entering the 
ministry. If a man accomplishes much in this life for truth 
and humanity, he must die to self interest." 

This high ideal began to be his goal even in his academic 
days, and was God's own appointed way to turn him into 
the channel of service for which he was so eminently fitted. 

Having once for all time yielded he felt even a greater 
need of cultivation of mind and he would not excuse himself 
with any thing less than the best the land could afford. 

Accordingly in September, 1893, he entered Richmond 



College Days 21 

College, Richmond, Va. He had the good fortune of being 
well prepared to take up the college work and pursue the 
same with no severe tax upon his mind. Possibly he could 
have entered some of the classes of the second year's course, 
but he highly valued the importance of doing foundation 
work well. He believed that in order that intellectual 
houses might stand they must be "founded upon a rock." 
This rock was sought by digging deep for Greek roots and 
mastering the fundamentals of other languages and sciences 
whose fields of wealth he attempted to make his own. In 
this ground work he was very painstaking. 

He had in his favor the best of instructors. Among 
them were Prof. H. H. Harris, who was acknowledged 
one of the leading Greek scholars of the South, and who 
spent the last years of his life as Professor in the Southern 
Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky. ; Prof. 
Edmund Harrison, that master of the Latin language, now 
President of Bethel Female College, Hopkinsville, Ky. ; the 
learned Dr. S. C. Mitchell; Prof. F. W. Boatwright, Presi- 
dent of Richmond College, and many others of exceptional 
ability. 

As a student he was above the average ; he was one of 
the best — best in applying himself and best in attaining 
results. 

As the thirsty traveler of the desert longs for the foun- 
tain of water with which to refresh his languishing soul 
so had Mr. McNiel yearned for this fountain of knowledge. 

He did his best in the hours set apart by himself for 
study and the physical exercises were entered into with the 
most jubilant spirits. When he returned to his room he 
seemed to forget everything but the book before him. 

To the other members of his class he rendered frequent 
and valuable aid. His quick and retentive mind enabled 
him to master his subject in less time than others ; and when 
this was done he cheerfully and freely shared with his 
fellow students the fruits of his own labors. It was almost 
a daily occurrence to see one or more wending their way 
to his room asking his assistance. He took delight, not in 



22 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

his superiority over his fellow students but in every oppor- 
tunity of rendering assistance. The idea of helping was 
most pleasing to him. 

With a mind naturally bright and time well spent, the 
day of his reward was not far away. Soon the time came 
when the President of the college in his annual distribution 
of diplomas began to deliver some to Mr. McNiel. At the 
close of the session of 1897-1898 he had received enough 
to entitle him to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. This in 
turn was used as a stepping stone to the highest academic 
honor of the college, the Master of Arts degree, which he 
won the next year, 1899. 

This accomplishment would have satisfied many, but not 
so with Mr. McNiel. His desire for the best training led 
him at once to begin preparation for a course in the Univer- 
sity of Chicago, which he took after a year's pastorate in 
Gordonsville, Va., his physician having advised him to 
take at least this much rest. But his worth was too well 
known to allow him much rest. As soon as it was known 
that he was going to Gordonsville an effort was at once 
made to induce him to accept in addition to his pastoral 
work the principalship of the Piedmont Academy. The 
pressure was so great that he finally yielded. Though 
he had this unusual amount of work to do he made a won- 
derful reputation as an instructor. He was greatly blessed 
in his church work and endeared himself not only to the 
members of his church and pupils of the school but to all 
classes of people and the ministers of the town. Here he 
was married to Miss Annie Stanard Goodloe, the highly 
accomplished daughter of Mr. Spotswood Goodloe, Gor- 
donsville. She was a graduate of the Woman's College, 
Richmond, Va. Directly after their marriage they went 
to the University of Chicago, where she died six months 
later. 

To be complete an education must not only have the 
benefit of faithful class work but also that of a literary finish. 
An application of this fact brought about the formation 
in Richmond College of two literary societies — the Philolo- 



College Days 23 

gian and Mu Sigma Rho. Though membership in either is 
not determined by profession, the majority of ministerial 
students are members of one while those in the law de- 
partment usually choose the latter. Mr. McNiel was a 
loyal Philologian. He loved to sing her praises and did 
what he could to promote her success. He was frequently 
heard on the floor advocating or opposing some proposition. 
It is no exaggeration to say that none had more influence 
in this department than he, and but few had as much. His 
good business and executive ability won for him the highest 
office the society could bestow, that of president. Unless 
the writer is mistaken Mr. McNiel was the first in many 
years to be elected by acclamation. 

Not only in business debate was he strong but was espe- 
cially so in literary discussion. His diction was free and 
easy; his arguments were well arranged; and he had the 
art of winning the sympathy of his opponents rather than 
repelling them. But his greatest attraction was his unusual 
power of eloquence. People said, "He is a natural born 
orator." Perhaps the secret of his power lay in the fact 
that he was "natural." If he used thoughts of others at all 
he first incorporated them into his own being, made them 
his own thoughts, and proclaimed them with all the per- 
sonal conviction of the author. He was completely free 
from mechanical gestures ; and those that he did make were 
the expression of his own soul. 

Each year these two societies gave jointly a medal to the 
best orator of the college. During these contests the rivalry 
between them is at the highest pitch. At times this interest 
becomes excitement and afterwards leads to adverse 
criticism of the judges when the medal goes "the wrong 
way." At the close of his graduating year Mr. McNiel 
was one of the representatives of the Philologian Society. 
The evening of the contest brought the usual large audience. 
The orations were delivered amid much applause, some- 
times because of merit and at others for effect upon the 
judges. When the judges returned they listened to the 
chairman as he told how all of them were on the road to 



24 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

fame and how much he regretted that he did not have a 
medal for each, but as he had only one it would be awarded 
to him who had so clearly won it. They were almost breath- 
less as he lifted a card on which was written the name of 
the winner and said in substance, "With one accord we 
have awarded this medal to Mr. J. W. T. McNiel." With 
equal unanimity the audience burst forth in wild applause. 
Congratulations from all the contestants as from all mem- 
bers of both societies and many visitors were showered upon 
him with the greatest freedom. It is now needless to say 
that the decision of the judges was accepted with no adverse 
criticism. 

As in many of the states so in Virginia there was a fur- 
ther stimulus to oratorical effort. Nine colleges of the state, 
including the University of Virginia, sent their medal win- 
ners to Salem to contest for the state orator's medal. Mr. 
McNiel, having won the medal at Richmond College, was 
entitled to enter this contest. How anxious were all that 
this honor should be brought to Richmond ! 

As the time approached the interest became intense. 
"Will Richmond win ?" was a question that weighed heavily 
upon the hearts and minds of all. At the hour when the 
battle was being waged there could be seen groups of stu- 
dents discussing the probability of McNiel's success. At a 
late hour when they were satisfied that the contest was 
over, the hope, yea the faith that McNiel had brought that 
honor to Richmond quieted the nerves of many and put 
them to rest. They some how felt he had gained the vic- 
tory. Very early the next morning, while nearly all were 
still slumbering, one over anxious young man holding in 
hand a copy of "The Times" came down the hall by leaps 
and bounds and yelling at the top of his voice: "Say, boys, 
McNiel got that medal !" "Hurrah for McNiel !" echoed 
scores of voices behind closed doors. Like wild fire the 
news spread to every student and professor on the campus. 
When the down town students came in and learned what 
this meant they also entered fully into the spirit of the 
hour. In the midst of the noise an occasional voice could 



College Days 25 

be heard to say: "Just as we expected; we knew McNiel 
would do it." When the train upon which he returned 
arrived it was met by about a hundred students. They 
obtained permission from the policeman to cheer, and when 
the successful contestant emerged from the stream of pas- 
sengers, the cheer was swelled to almost a deafening volume, 
so delighted were they to bestow honor on him ''to whom 
it was due." 

Though very busy in other departments, Mr. McNiel 
was very attentive to religious work. His life at college was 
a standing refutation of the idea that students have no time 
for religious or "outside work." He was one of the fore- 
most workers in the college Y. M. C. A. and when a num- 
ber of "room classes" were organized for a special study 
of the Bible he was promptly elected one of the teachers. 
His class selected the "Parables of Christ" as their special 
line. In this difficult field he led the class with marked 
ability. 

His college life was made more useful also by the 
amount of preaching he did. Early in the second session 
while doing much scattered supply work he was called to the 
pastorate of the Potomac Baptist Church, in King George 
County, Va., which he served for four and a half years. 
Although he was very busy with college duties he did in this 
church a most acceptable work as was shown by the resolu- 
tions adopted by the church when he resigned, also by the 
fact that on hearing of his death, eight years afterward, 
they held in honor of his memory a memorial service partici- 
pated in by representatives from every part of a large section 
of country. 

During his vacations he did much evangelistic work in 
which God greatly blessed his labors. In one meeting not 
far from the church mentioned above, over fifty souls pro- 
fessed faith in Christ. 

In all the "northern neck" of Virginia there are many 
that will "rise up and call him blessed." This seed sown, this 
abiding impression made during his busy college days. Yet 
he did not allow it to interfere with his class work, though 



26 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 



the pastoral part necessitated the loss of much time from 
college. 

On the part of most people there is a tendency to eulo- 
gize unduly their friends after death ; especially is this true 
when the realm of the inner man is discussed. But from 
man's viewpoint Mr. McNiel was to his companions a 
model Christian. He enjoyed the confidence and highest 
respect of the entire student body. 

His success had not the effect of making him vain or 
creating a desire for personal compliments. In the midst 
of honor he was one of the most humble. When he won 
his orator's medal his room-mate was at home attending 
the bedside of a dying sister. After her death he returned 
to the college and lived in the room with Mr. McNiel more 
than a week before he knew of his having won the medal ; 
and then was told by another student. So free from boast- 
ing was he that his thoughts turned to the sorrows of his 
room-mate rather than to his own honors. 

His fellow students saw him tried as but few are and 
learned from him how a Christian can bear up under the 
demands of God, which in this case were unusually trying. 
Yet he faced these trials with the courage of a David. He 
neither borrowed trouble nor, when it came, did he chafe 
under it. 

While at college death twice invaded his home taking his 
two remaining sisters, but his courage did not falter. Like 
Job he was able to say, "The Lord gave, the Lord has taken 
away: blessed be the name of the Lord," and so turned 
his mind from his sorrow to the discharge of present duty. 
That of itself was a powerful testimony to God's grace 
in his servant. This manly Christian courage made a deep 
impression upon his comrades and as these young men are 
scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific so wide to-day is 
his influence. During this college course he had the un- 
speakable joy of baptizing his father and brother who were 
converted in his meetings. 

What was God's purpose in Mr. McNiel's life and was 
that purpose fulfilled? 



College Days 27 

Since God's desire to impart his principles to man is so 
great and man's power of comprehension is so small it 
becomes necessary at times to leave the abstract for the con- 
crete. This he did for Thomas who could not understand 
but by the nail prints. May not God have used Brother 
McNiel as the nail prints to many a young man who doubted 
the possibility of his own high attainment? Did he not 
labor under the greatest difficulties and attain almost the 
greatest height? Is not his life an unanswerable demon- 
stration of the power of courage and effort ? Will not God 
point to him many a young man faltering under difficulties 
and thus stimulate him to an effort that will lead to success ? 
And will not these young men in turn thank God for such 
an example? 

Servant of God, the world is blessed by thy well spent 
life. Enjoy now thy rich reward ; for when thy summons 
came we can easily hear thy response : "For I am now ready 
to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I 
have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have 
kept the faith." 



Ill 

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 



"There is the quiet, gentle talk of a holy 
heart, immovably fixed on the one aim of 
always and everywhere confessing the 
Saviour." 

A. W. Thorold, D. D. 



Ill 

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 



Mr. McNiel as a Theological Student 

By Dr. C. B. Hewitt. 

Mr. McNiel came to the Divinity School of the Univer- 
sity of Chicago in the fall of 1900. He was more mature than 
most of our students and had more experience in preaching 
and Christian work. He was already ordained. By virtue 
of his experience, ability, and attractive personality, he very 
soon became widely and well acquainted, and filled a promi- 
nent place in the intellectual and social life of the institution. 

Not many weeks of student life had passed, however, 
when it became manifest that his health was not robust. 
After six or eight months he left the school and accepted 
a call to the Maryland Avenue Baptist Church in Washing- 
ton, D. C, for one year, at the expiration of which term he 
returned and went forward with his theological study. His 
experiences seemed to enrich and ripen his nature, and he 
became yet more decidedly a leader in the devotional life 
and work of the students. 

Of his work in the Evangelistic Band another is to 
write, but it is worthy of note that his influence on the spirit- 
ual life of his fellow-students was ever stimulating and help- 
ful. Students come to know each other more intimately, and 
in many respects more perfectly, than they are known by 
officers or members of the faculty, and the estimate in 
which one is held by his fellows is one of the best tests of 
his character and influence. It is only just to the memory 
of Mr. McNiel to say that no one stood higher in the respect 
and confidence of those thus intimately associated with him 
than he did. 

He was also highly regarded by the members of the 
faculty, as a student, a Christian gentleman, and 



32 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 



as a preacher. It was in this last — his work as a preacher — ■ 
that he was especially happy and effective. It soon became 
apparent from reports that came back when he went out 
to supply different pulpits here and there that he was an 
exceptionally able and interesting speaker, and that he 
impressed people by his intellectual ability, his Christian 
spirit, and his unaffected devotion. 

It was with unspeakable regret on the part of all when 
it became manifest that his health required him to relinquish 
his studies and seek a more favorable climate. He had 
not then quite completed his course of study, and was never 
afterward able to do so. 

So ended the career as a student of one of the noblest 
and best loved of the many who have in our Divinity School 
made preparation for their life work as ministers of the 
Gospel. 



University of Chicago 33 

Mr. McNiel in Association With His Fellows 

By Rev. James W. Durham. 

Mr. McNiel happily combined those qualities which 
drew to him many friends and made him an admirable com- 
panion and helpful associate. He was by nature genial, sym- 
pathetic and unselfish. These qualities combined with his 
noble ambition won for him hosts of friends and admirers 
who never lost their love for and confidence in him. 

When I entered Richmond College, and during our 
three years there, he was one of the most popular "boys" of 
that institution. In fact, to the boys who belonged to his lit- 
erary society, he was a kind of idol. The name of J. W. T. 
McNiel was to many of the members of the Philologian 
Society a clinching argument for the superiority of their 
society. His superior knowledge and wisdom above that 
of the average student made his acquaintances not only love 
but reverence him. 

When I entered the University of Chicago it was a de- 
light to me to be associated with him even more closely 
than at college. The first year of my stay at the university 
we lived next door to each other. We lived together like 
brothers sharing each other's purposes and plans. He never 
exhibited any childish familiarity, but was always manly 
in his associations. He hated all forms of sham and little- 
ness. He loved truth and intellectual as well as moral hon- 
esty, and boldly did he contend for them. He never pretended 
to believe what he did not. He was not a time-server, nor 
a man who would "play to the galleries" for the sake of 
passing popularity. Such moral courage in private as well 
as in public life caused others, as well as myself, to recognize 
in him a man of strength and integrity, whose acquaintance 
was worth cultivating. 

McNiel was of a cheerful disposition. He never tried 
to burden others with his troubles. While he loved the 
sympathy of his fellows, he never courted it by bareing the 
sorrows of his own heart. His cheerfulness even in the 



34 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

most distressing sorrows was simply remarkable, and he 
showed what a man can endure, who has a strong faith 
in the goodness and love of the Father. When I remember 
the sublime courage with which he bore the many sorrows 
that came to him, I can but feel that his was a large soul 
and strong faith. 

The pain of all this he bore in silence only showing it by 
the manifestation of a sublimer faith, a sweeter disposition 
and an enlarged sympathy for the sufferings of humanity 
everywhere. 

McNiel impressed his fellows as being a manly man, 
whether in the class room, on the athletic field, in private 
conversation or in the pulpit. This manhood he never 
sacrificed for the sake of popularity, nevertheless it made 
him popular and won to him those who love the true, the 
good and the beautiful. Those who have been privileged 
to know and associate with him have been left the inspira- 
tion of a noble character, a truly heroic soul, an unselfish 
spirit, toiling manfully amid increasing sorrows up the 
rugged road to God, only that he might come down and 
help those needing his healing touch. 



IV 
POTOMAC, VA. 



"The strength of gentleness, 
The might of meekness, 
The glory of courage unafraid, 
A constant love., a tenderness of weakness, 
Were in his face and life displayed." 

Edward H. Griggs. 



IV 

POTOMAC, VA. 

In January, 1895, at the suggestion of Mrs. J. O. Kirk, 
wife of a former pastor of the church, the Potomac Church 
of King George County, Va., invited J. W. T. McNiel, 
then a youth and a student at Richmond College, Va., to 
supply for the church until they could get a pastor. 

Brother McNiel continued to supply for the church until 
June, 1896, when by authority of the church at Rocky 
Mount, Va., of which Brother McNiel was a member, the 
Potomac Church called a council consisting of Rev. C. H. 
Ryland, D. D., Rev. Alfred Bagby, Rev. O. Elyson and Rev. 
W. W. Owens, who met at the Potomac Church on Wednes- 
day, June 24, 1896, and after satisfactory examination pro- 
ceeded to ordain Brother McNiel to the full work of the 
ministry. 

The Hanover Church of this county having taken simi- 
lar action regarding R. S. Monds, a fellow student of Brother 
McNiel in Richmond College, they were ordained at the 
same time and place by the same council. 

Immediately after the ordination of Brother McNiel he 
was elected pastor of the church and entered upon his first 
pastorate September 1, 1896. He continued to serve as 
pastor while pursuing his studies at Richmond College until 
August 20, 1899, when on account of failing health he 
resigned. That the church was very reluctant to part with 
him is shown by the following resolutions passed by the 
church at the time. 

It having been necessary on account of ill health that 
our beloved brother and pastor, Rev. J. W. T. McNiel, 
should terminate his pastoral relations with this church ; 
therefore be it 

Resolved: I. That we desire to express our high appre- 
ciation of Brother McNiel as a faithful, consecrated minister 



38 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

of the Gospel of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and 
that it is with sincere sorrow we agree to sever the very 
pleasant and profitable relations that have existed between 
us as pastor and people for the past four and a half years. 

Resolved: II. That a copy of these resolutions be spread 
upon our church records and a copy be furnishe-d our 
Brother McNiel. 

William J. Rogers, 

Church Clerk. 



V 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 



"His being working in my own, 
The footsteps of his life in mine." 



Peloubet's Notes. 



V 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 

By Rev. R. S. Owens. 

In September, 1902, Mr. McNiel was persuaded to ac- 
cept the pastorate of the Maryland Avenue Baptist Church, 
Washington, D. C, for one year before returning to the 
University of Chicago. 

In this time eighty-four members were added to the 
church — forty-seven by letter and thirty-seven by baptism. 

He was an indefatigable and faithful worker; one who 
has learned the secret of a true pastor, by knowing his 
people, of both church and congregation, in their homes. 
Making from seventy-five to eighty calls per month, he 
found out their needs and soul-desires, and responded 
around the home-circle as well as in the pulpit. 

At the time of his resignation he was held in the 
highest esteem by all who knew him, and had written his 
name indelibly upon the hearts of the people with the pen 
of service, which is shown by the resolutions offered at 
the time his resignation was accepted: 

Whereas, It has been deemed best by our beloved 
pastor, Rev. J. W. T. McNiel, to sever his relation as 
pastor of our church, in order to fit himself for the great 
work to which he has been called, therefore be it 

Resolved, That we, as the members of the Maryland 
Avenue Baptist Church of Washington, D. C, will ever 
hold in grateful remembrance the noble self-sacrifice dis- 
played by him in laying aside his cherished plans and dis- 
continuing his studies for one year to serve us ; 

That by his untiring efforts and devotion to the Master's 
cause in this community he has won the admiration of us all ; 

That by this separation we lose an efficient pastor, an 
enthusiastic leader and a loving friend; 



42 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

That he leaves us with our best wishes and prayers for 
his future success in the Master's kingdom. 

Done by action of the Maryland Avenue Church of 
Washington, D. C, on the first day of September, 1903. 



VI 
ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. 



"In his simple naturalness, gentle sensi- 
tiveness, absolute sincerity, quiet courage, 
incessant considerateness, unwearied self- 
forgetfulness, we see what makes precious- 
ness and points to the beauty of all human 
friendship." 

A. W. Thorold. D. D. 



VI 
ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. 

Introduction by Dr. C. B. Hewitt. 

Broken health made it necessary for me to spend the 
first three months of 1904 as a vacation in California. 
While there I learned to my surprise and sorrow that Mr. 
McNiel was unable to continue his studies in the Divinity 
School of Chicago and that on advice of his physician he 
was to seek a more favorable climate in the west. 

Knowing his ability and attractiveness as a preacher, 
I began to look about for a vacant pulpit. No opportunity 
appeared until, on our return east, Mrs. Hewitt and myself 
stopped for a week early in March at Albuquerque, of 
which we had heard much as a health resort. On our 
arrival we found that Rev. H. G. Powell, a former friend, 
then pastor of the Baptist Church, was about to close his 
pastorate and move from the city. It occurred to me that 
this would be a suitable place for Mr. McNiel, and that he 
would be a most acceptable supply for that pulpit and a 
desirable man to fill the office. 

The retiring pastor was pleased with the prospect that 
the church might secure at once so good a man, and joined 
me in advising the church to invite Mr. McNiel to fill the 
pulpit for a time, with the possibility of his becoming per- 
manent pastor. 

In accordance with the suggestion, the church wrote 
him at Santa Fe, N. M., where he had gone, inviting him 
to preach for them at his earliest convenience. He accepted 
the invitation and so soon won the hearts of the people 
that they called him to the pastorate. 

It was manifest, however, that he ought not to under- 
take alone to minister to all those to whom the churches 
in such a place should carry the cheer and consolation af- 
forded by the gospel of Christ. 



46 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

Conference with Pastor Powell made it evident that 
the demand for Christian sympathy and help in that resort 
for invalids was excessive. The opportunity to "go about 
doing good" as the Master Himself did was unlimited, and 
the opportunity to those having the spirit of the Master 
was a call to duty. The Baptists must do their share of 
this work. The local church, with its limited membership, 
could not, unaided, do this. The retiring pastor had been 
nearly crushed in the endeavor to meet urgent demands 
and was compelled to relinquish the task. 

In view of this situation, and at the suggestion of Mr. 
Powell, I formulated an appeal to the Women's Baptist 
Home Mission Society to send a missionary to that field 
to work in connection with and under the advice of the 
pastor of the church. Towards the support of such a worker 
Pastor McNiel generously pledged $200 a year from his 
own moderate salary. 

The Women's Society, through Miss Mary G. Bur- 
dette, gave kindly consideration to the appeal and a little 
iater appointed Miss Mary Carr Merritt to render the 
service. She began her work December 1, 1904, and con- 
tinued it a little over two years. 

Some record of what was accomplished may appear 
in this volume ; a record more accurate and complete finds 
place in God's "book of remembrance." 



The three years of Mr. McNiel's pastorate in Albu- 
querque were marked by the closest fidelity to the Master's 
work and his deep interest in humanity. It was a rare 
privilege to listen to sermons of such ability and moulding 
power; sermons which revealed a large and vigorous soul 
and ever led the hearer to nobler heights. To illustrate 
this we will share with the reader the following beautiful 
poem, written by Mr. W. H. Worth, in memory of a sermon 
preached by Mr. McNiel, November 19, 1905, "Abide With 
Us," the text being Luke 24 :29 : 



Albuquerque, N. M. 47 

To My Beloved Pastor: 

Abide with us, for evening draweth near, 

The lone disciples prayed; 
The day is spent, the way is dark and drear, 

And storm-clouds lower o'er head. 



Our hearts are sad, as silently we go, 

Or speak but of our grief; 
No words can measure the despair and woe, 

Or minister relief. 

A stranger, thou, indeed ! or thou hadst known 

The awful tragedy, 
Scare three days since, that to the world was shown 

On cruel Calvary. 

We thought the Christ had once among us stood ; 

We saw his wondrous power, 
And trusted that the Lord had visited 

His Israel in that hour. 

He called us each by name to follow him ; 

How gladly we obeyed, 
Forsaking all, counting it joy to win 

The Hope so long delayed. 

But now 'tis night, and not a star doth pierce 

The blackness of our sky ; 
That hand, which dried so oft the mourner's tears. 

Cold in the grave doth lie. 

For wicked hands, inspired by fiendish hate, 

By blinding passion led, 
Have crushed that life, so warm and true of late, 

And hope (not love) lies dead. 



48 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 



But fellowship with him would bid us look 

Not to our griefs alone ; 
The broader love, of which his life partook, 

Made the world's woes his own. 

The night draws on to thee, the way is long, 

And dangers may be near; 
Without are lurking foes, stealthy and strong; 

Come, tarry with us here. 

Thy sympathy sincere has power to turn 

E'en sorrow's tears aside ; 
Thy words of love have made our hearts to burn; 

Come, and with us abide. 

Constrained thus, he enters in, and lo ! 

What glory greets their eyes ; 
In welcoming a stranger, they behold 

The Master in disguise. 

Their risen Lord ! He whom they mourned as dead, 

Their guest, but now their host ; 
As of old, he blessed and brake the bread; 

In joy their fears are lost. 

O living Christ, come and with us abide, 

Not as a transient guest, 
But as our Saviour, King, Defender, Guide, 

And our abiding rest. 

We, too, have felt thy words within us burn 

With energy divine; 
And, listening to thy voice, we still would learn 

To mould our lives by Thine. 

We have no bounties, Lord, to offer thee, 

Nought but a heart of love; 
And that would ever cold and lifeless be 

Lest quickened from above. 



Albuquerque, N. M. 49 

But thou hast loved us, and our hearts respond 

As turns the sun-kissed flower; 
Draw thou and keep us in that deathless bond, 

Thy changeless love and power. 

Help us to open wide to thee the door ; 

Loosen each secret spring, 
That thou mayest come and dwell forevermore, 

Our Master and our King. 



His pastoral duties were planned to reach the largest 
number of sick, sorrowing, and the many lonely strangers, 
at the same time not neglecting the members of his flock 
who were more fortunate. 

Every suffering heart appealed to him, regardless of 
name and creed, and only the recording angel knows all 
the hours, early and late, which he spent by a lonely death- 
bed, or with stricken hearts at the train. He made real 
to us the words, "The wisdom from above is first of all 
pure, then peaceful, courteous, not self-willed; full of com- 
passion, and kind actions free from favoritism and from 
all insincerity." 

It was in the fall of 1905 that his drives through the 
northwestern part of town impressed him with the large 
territory covered by no church and in which there were 
many members of his own church who were too ill to go 
so far to service, and he felt that if they could not go to 
the church, the church should go to them; so, together 
with the solicitation of a number of the residents, he began 
Neighborhood Prayer Meetings, the first being in the home 
of Mr. I. A. Dye. After holding a number of such meet- 
ings, Holden Mission was organized. The Lord prospered 
the work, and in January a tent-house was built which 
was dedicated February 4, 1906. He was prevented by 
illness from being present, but he arranged the entire pro- 
gram and sent a letter written for the occasion and read 
by Mr. W. K. Preston, which revealed his deep interest : 



50 Rev. J. W. T. McNie! 

To the Members of Holden Mission : 

Dear Friends : — It is with deep regret that I am de- 
prived of being with you on this happy and significant day. 
Though unavoidably kept away, I rejoice with you in the 
splendid successes that have already crowned your labors. 

I wish to avail myself of this privilege publicly to 
congratulate you upon the constant and uniform progress 
the work of the mission has made from the beginning to 
the present day. This good beginning promises a strong 
and useful life for Holden Mission. And in addition to 
the encouragement gained from past successes, you have 
the supreme assurance of future success from the fact that 
this is God's work and you His co-workers. 

While unable thus far to attend any of the services 
of the 'mission, I have, nevertheless, known of every step 
in the work, and I have rejoiced to see such a beautiful 
spirit of Christian service on every hand. 

You have not been lashed into this enterprise. You 
have approached it voluntarily and have thus shown a 
genuine desire to be true to your Heavenly Father and to 
render service to your fellow-men as opportunity may afford 
and the Master may direct. Nothing, in my mind, makes 
this work more promising than the spirit of spontaneity 
which seems to pervade the whole mission. This is evi- 
dence of the Divine leading, and it will surely result in 
the Divine blessing. 

If I may be allowed a word of admonition, I should 
like to say: In your Christian service do not narrow and 
restrict your vision of duty and love to your own com- 
munity, but rather adopt the better and more blessed way 
of keeping before your mind the good of the kingdom at 
large. In this way you can most beautifully serve Him 
whose dominion some day will cover the whole earth. 

May you have that joy and peace which filled the 
Master's mind in doing the Father's will. And when re- 
verses and trials come, remember, "His cross is not greater 
than His Grace." Yours fraternally, 

February 4, 1906. J. W. T. McNiEL. 






Albuquerque, N. M. 51 

After this period his health so greatly improved that 
he was often able to meet with them, and took a special 
delight in the service. Happy in returning strength, we 
find him devoting himself most assiduously to every detail 
of his work. For nearly the entire year following he pur- 
sued his course with an energy his friends could not re- 
strain, but so modest was he about it all that almost no 
one had any idea of the immense amount of work he was 
doing. However, it had been apparent to the! missionary 
for some time that he was making more calls than the 
average minister in robust health. 

He not only visited and preached, but he sang comfort 
into aching hearts. January 6, 1907, in connection with 
his morning service, when his text was from I Cor. 15:58, 
lie sang the accompanying solo most impressively : 



I THANK THEE, LORD. 

For the cross that, day by day, 
Brings me unto Thee to pray ; 
For the agony and strife, 
For the bitter in this life, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 
Patience unto him is born 
Who a crown of thorns has worn. 

For the path so dread to me, 
That in fright I cling to Thee ; 
For the chasm's yawning deeps, 
For the peril-laden steeps, 

I thank Thee, Lord. 
Then it is I hear Thee say: 
"Fear thou not ; I am the Way." 

For the night when it comes on 
Like the darkness ere the dawn ; 



52 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

For those hours when faith must be 
All the guide that leadeth me, 

I thank Thee, Lord. 
Then I know how needless sight, 
If Thou only art my light. 

Nellie: A. Montgomery. 

January and February were marked by that same tire- 
less, self-forgetful devotion, nothing moving him from his 
sense of duty, unswerving to the end. Sunday, March 3rd, 
he preached, as usual, morning and evening, and we are 
fortunate in having the outline of each sermon, both of 
which are here given. These notes were found in his Bible 
as he had left them on Sunday. 

NOTES OF MORNING SERMON. 

The Lame Man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. 

Text, Acts 3 :6 — "But Peter said, Silver and gold have 
I none, but what I have, that I give thee." 

Introduction : The story of Peter and John going 
into the temple. 

I. Today the world's needy and suffering sit at the 
gate of the temple and look to the worshipers of God for 
help. 

1. The idea of charity and helpfulness are associated 

with the Christian religion, (a) Jesus set the 
example of helpfulness. 

2. It is Christianity and her devotees who build hos- 

pitals, insane asylums, orphanages, and go as 
angels of light to the dark places of want and 
misery. 
Illustration : When the Chinese commissioners were 
in Chicago, they were taken about by a delega- 
tion of citizens to see the sights — the railway 
stations, stock-yards, factories, etc. One of 



Albuquerque, N. M. 53 

the chiefs of the commissioners being asked 
what impressed him most, replied : "The hos- 
pitals, Hull House and Y. M. C. A. work." 
These they did not have in China. 

3. If a professed follower of Christ proves discour- 

aging and unhelpful, he is branded a hypocrite, 
for helpfulness is expected and demanded of 
a Christian. 

4. Contrast conditions now with those of Pompeii 

and Babylon. Call up an old-time citizen of 
each and show our good sides, and also our 
bad ones, which are relics of the past. 

II. After all, the Gospel does not aim directly at im- 
proving men's circumstances ; it aims at improving men 
themselves. 

1. The primary object of Christianity is not to give 

silver and gold, but life, wholeness of life, 
abundant life. The lame man's restoration was 
worth more to him than much fine gold. A 
church is not first of all a charitable institu- 
tion. Her work is to build up character through 
Christ and His Gospel. 

2. When mankind once gains moral and spiritual 

health, material improvements and blessings will 

follow. Charity is not Christianity, but a fruit 

of the Spirit. 

Conclusion : He who looks up to God from a state 

of sin and helplessness will get more than he ever asked or 

dreamed. So with the lame man at the gate. God gives 

abundantlv above all that we can ask or think. 



54 



Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 



NOTES OF EVENING SERMON 







tftT*jU&~iJ 






7^ &r^ S*fa* 



//i/-*^&C 



M JUu JU yu^^JL^ jplU^f, Ct+JZTTZ oU <Jb e£U. 



Albuquerque, N. M. 55 



Monday and Tuesday were spent as usual. The last 
letter he wrote was one of sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. C. 
E. Hulbert, March 5, 1907, upon the death of Dean Hulbert. 
Tuesday evening after supper several of the boarders gath- 
ered about the piano as he selected and sang, "One Sweetly 
Solemn Thought," by Ambrose. How true were the words : 
"It may be I am nearer home, nearer now than I think." 

The next morning about break of day, with scarcely a 
moment's warning, he was not, for God took him. The 
shock of his death was felt in every part of town. In their 
deep grief, all grades and classes of people were saying: 
"We have lost a friend." 

The funeral was held in the church Friday, March 8, 
at 3 :30 p. m., and conducted by the Ministers' Association. 
The crowded house, bountiful floral offerings and impressive 
service attested in some measure the love of the people. 
At the close of the service the body was taken to the train, 
escorted by the ministers, and started on its long journey 
to rest in his loved Virginia home. 

The following program was carried out at the service : 

Organ Prelude — Funeral March (from Sonata op. 26) 

Beethoven 

Hymn — "My Jesus. As Thou Wilt," 1st and 3rd verses 

Scripture Reading Rev. E. Moser, Evan. Luth. Church 

Prayer Rev. J. C. Rollins, Methodist Episcopal 

Hymn — "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," 1st and 2nd verses 
(Tune, "Refuge.") 

Address Rev. H. A. Cooper, Presbyterian 

Address Rev. J. W. Barron, Congregational 

Duet— "My Father Knows" 

Mrs. Silbernagle and Mrs. Miller 

Address Rev. J. H. Heald, Congregational 

Resolutions adopted by the Ministers' Association read by 

Rev. E. E. Crawford, Christian Church. 
Solo — "One Sweetly Solemn Thought" (Ambrose) 

Mrs. Silbernagle 

Prayer and benediction. 

Mrs. Rose Futrelle Gideon, organist. 



56 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

The following, clipped from the "Morning Journal/' 
expressed the sentiment of many hearts : 

"Seldom has it fallen to the lot of a resident of Albu- 
querque to win the warm place in the hearts of its people 
that belongs to the late Rev. J. W. T. McNiel, pastor of 
the First Baptist Church, who was laid to rest yesterday 
with fitting honors. The funeral was held yesterday after- 
noon from the Baptist Church, all the local ministers taking 
part in the services. The following exceptionally strong 
resolutions, passed by the ministers of Albuquerque, show 
in what remarkable esteem this man was held by his fellows. 
The resolutions appear on the minutes of the Ministers' 
Association, of which Mr. McNiel was secretary, as follows : 

"1. — It is the expression of this body that in the passing 
of Rev. J. W. T. McNiel, this city has sustained a loss that 
is irreparable. A manly man, a true citizen, a kind and 
loyal friend, an almost ideal Christian character, has de- 
parted from us to return no more. But the inspiration of 
his life among us can never fail, and our memory of him 
will always be God's call to us to come up higher. 

"2. — It is also our deep conviction that the church of 
this city has lost one of its noblest associates and helpers. 
In a very real sense, Mr. McNiel belonged to the church 
universal. His broad views of Christian teaching, his spirit 
of unbounded fellowship for all Christian people, his utter 
freedom from denominational prejudices, his glad and 
hearty co-operation with every good work, all combined 
to make men of every faith feel that one of their brothers 
has passed away from us to the place where the fullness 
of God's love enables all followers of our common Master 
to live as one fold in the presence of one shepherd. 

u 3. — Especially do we desire to express our sincere 
sympathy for our sister church in her bereavement. They 
know out of the riches of a long association, more fully 
than we, how profound is their sense of loss. Rarely, in- 
deed, has a man been so possessed of the combined qualities 
that make an ideal minister. His clear perception of the 



Albuquerque, N. M. 57 

truth, which is the inevitable and invariable result of a life 
of intellectual and moral honesty and purity; his eloquent 
presentation of it, his love for his people, which was too 
great to be confined to them alone ; his genial, kindly dis- 
position and sympathetic helpfulness, will make his place in 
this pulpit very hard to fill. His life was his best sermon. 

"4. — Personally, we wish to pay our tribute to him 
as a man and brother minister. To know him was to love 
and admire him. His personality was a rarely beautiful 
combination of gentleness and strength. To him, to live 
was Christ, and to die is gain. His thoughts were God's 
thoughts, and his life was the expression of them. His 
intelligence was great, his heart was great, and they united 
in a great service to his fellow-men. The days of his 
earthly life were wisely spent, therefore the Great Law of 
Compensation has given him his liberation and his reward. 
He 'allured to brighter worlds and led the way.' 

"The resolutions were signed by Rev. Hugh A. Cooper, 
Presbyterian Church; Rev. J. C. Rollins, Methodist Epis- 
copal Church; Rev. J. W. Barron and Rev. J. H. Heald, 
Congregational Church; Rev. Ernest Moser, Lutheran 
Church; Rev. O. B. Holliday, Southern Methodist Church; 
Rev. Ernest E. Crawford, Christian Church, and Rev. W. 
W. Havens, Methodist Church." 

AN EXTRACT FROM THE ADDRESS OF REV. HUGH A. COOPER 
DELIVERED AT THE FUNERAL. 

"Thy Will Be Done." This is the text from which our 
brother preached his last sermon. As I have read this 
sermon it has seemed to me that Brother McNiel spoke 
with prophetic voice. The sermon breathes the spirit of 
the man. Though he did not know the end was so near, 
had he known it he would have said, "Thy will, not mine, 
be done." None would have been readier than he to recog- 
nize that "a man is immortal till his work is done." 

From our point of view today it seems like a dark 
providence. We cannot understand it. All we can do is 



58 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

in faith to repeat our dear brother's last text, "Thy will 
be done." "Even so, Father, for it seemeth good in Thy 
sight." 

Those of us who knew J. W. T. McNiel know that he 
sought ever to make the will of God the plan of his life. 
This is what made his life so beautiful. This is why he 
was optimistic always. As Emerson said of Tennyson, 
"he had a beautiful soul." "There are," says Froude, "men 
who, wherever they go, create an epidemic of nobleness." 
McNiel was such a man. 

One thing that always impressed me was his trans- 
parent sincerity. The word sincere comes from sine, "with- 
out," and cera, "wax." When the ancients were building 
mansions of marble, some workmen, then as now, were 
dishonest, and if there was a flaw in the marble, filled it 
in and glossed it over with wax, which soon dropped out 
and revealed the flaw. To avoid this there came to be 
introduced into the contract the words, sine cera, "without 
wax." Brother McNiel, as I knew him — and I knew him 
well — was sincere. All he did was in the open. What he 
believed he spoke. He stifled no conviction. 

Another thing that impressed me and helped me was 
his kindness. He was the stranger's friend. He would 
go out of his way and bestow strength that he could ill 
afford in order to help another. 

His very gentleness made him great. Though young 
in years, he was a man of exceptional ability. He was 
an earnest student and had a natural gift of oratory, but 
of these I need not speak. We all knew of these gifts 
and prized them. 

How sadly we shall miss his helpfulness and counsel 
in our Ministerial Alliance. Though he was a loyal Bap- 
tist, in the larger sense he was a Christian, and his ambi- 
tion above that of the individual church was the advance- 
ment of the kingdom of God. 



Albuquerque, N. M. 59 

''Servant of God! well done! 

Rest from thy loved employ; 
The battle fought, the victory won, — 
Enter thy Master's joy. 

''The voice at midnight came. 
He started up to hear; 
A mortal arrow pierced his frame, 
He fell — but felt no fear. 

"The pains of death are past, 
Labor and sorrow cease, 
And life's long warfare closed at last, 
His soul is found in peace. 

"Soldier of Christ! well done! 
Praise be thy new employ; 
And while eternal ages run, 
Rest in thy Saviour's joy." 

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE FTRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, MARCH 13, 1907. 

WhEREas, Our Heavenly Father has, in His infinite 
wisdom, taken from us our beloved pastor, Rev. J. W. T. 
McNiel ; therefore, be it 

Resolved, That our church has lost a wise, kind and 
efficient pastor, one who possessed rare intellectual ability 
and withal a deep spirituality. His was a strong nature, 
yet his sweetness of disposition and gentleness of manner 
endeared him to all. He was magnanimous, and of no one 
can it be said more truly, "He was God's nobleman." 

Resolved, That his memory will be a sacred legacy 
to our church, and will ever be an inspiration to higher 
and nobler living. We will not say "he is dead," but 
rather, he has entered God's presence, "where there is full- 
ness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures 
forevermore." 



60 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

Resolved, That we extend to the family, on whom the 
loss falls heaviest, our sincere sympathy, commending them 
to the great Comforter, who alone is able to sustain them 
in their sorrow. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to 
the family of our late pastor, and also that they be spread 
upon the church records. 

Mrs. Mary V. Shutt, 
Mrs. Josephine E. Preston, 
Mr. C. D. Gore, 
Mr. J. A. Hammond, 

Committee. 

The news of his death which had sped to his host of 
friends in all parts of the United States brought forth an 
universal expression of sorrow. 

On August 4th a memorial service was held in Potomac, 
Va., the first church of which he was pastor. When we 
realize that it had been eight years since he left this pastor- 
ate, we see that the attachment between this church and 
pastor was most unusual. 



Albuquerque, N. M. 61 

An Appreciation 

By Rev. Wilson J. Marsh, Albuquerque. 

My acquaintance with Rev. J. W. T. McNiel began 
about April 1, 1904, when he assumed the pastorate of the 
First Baptist Church of Albuquerque. 

One morning I heard a knock at my study door. Upon 
opening it I beheld a young man, tall and slender, wearing 
high-top boots and a broad-brimmed hat, his face bronzed 
from exposure to New Mexico sun and wind. The counte- 
nance, frank and open, at once commanded confidence, and I 
gave him a cordial welcome. Presently the stranger intro- 
duced himself as Mr. McNiel, the new pastor of the Baptist 
Church. For health reasons he had been spending much 
time out of doors engaged in his favorite exercise of horse- 
back riding. We spent a pleasant hour together, and thus 
began an acquaintance which ripened into warmest friend- 
ship. This friendship terminated only with his sad and 
sudden death, to be renewed some day, I fondly trust, in 
a better world and under fairer skies. 

The two churches of which Brother McNiel and I were 
pastors are located only a block apart. It has been the 
custom for many years for the two congregations to unite 
during the summer months, giving each pastor a vacation 
in turn. For these reasons Mr. McNiel and myself were 
naturally closely associated. A mutual congeniality en- 
hanced still further the intimacy and pleasure of our com- 
panionship. 

I can truly say that the better I knew him, the more I 
admired and loved him. 

Mr. McNiel was possessed of a singularly clear and 
penetrating mind. I heard him preach only a few times, 
but was impressed with these mental characteristics — origi- 
nality, lucidity, and logical arrangement. He was not sat- 
isfied with the superficial, with that which would occur to 
the merely casual thinker. He loved to delve down deep, 
and to bring to light the hidden treasure. No matter how 



62 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

profound the subject, no matter how diverse and various 
the sources from which he drew the original elements of 
his discourse, when they had passed through the crucible 
of his mind and came forth' in the finished sermon, they 
appeared in the form of clear, orderly expositions of truth. 
His perceptions were keen, his grasp of a subject strong 
and comprehensive. 

While one might admire Mr. McNiel for his intellectual 
talents and attainments, it was his qualities of heart that 
most endeared him to those who knew him best. He was 
of a kind and sympathetic nature. Above all was he imbued 
with the spirit of the Master, whose he was and whom he 
served. I have seen occasional flashes of a warm southern 
temperament, but that ardent nature was softened and sub- 
dued by the genuine Christian spirit. These heart qualities 
ennobled and vivified the intellectual in his preaching. In 
the delivery of his sermons there was a vast reserve of 
emotional power which might not be permitted expression; 
nevertheless his preaching was winning, effective and elo- 
quent. 

But Mr. McNiel was more than a preacher ; he was a 
man. His life was as eloquent as his sermons ; the two 
were consistent. What he preached on Sunday he prac- 
ticed on Monday. From the pulpit he declared the doctrine 
of the universal brotherhood of man ; then in private life 
he manifested this spirit in all his relations with others. 
While loyal to his own convictions, there was no sectarian- 
ism or bigotry in his attitude toward other Christians. As 
far as mutual sympathy was concerned, he and I were more 
like co-pastors over a single congregation than like pastors 
of two neighboring churches. The high esteem in which 
he was held throughout this community, and the universal 
sorrow over his premature death, bear testimony to the 
catholicity of his spirit as well as to the integrity of his 
Christian character. As a friend, Mr. McNiel was com- 
panionable and lovable. He was a man who easily made 
friends, and those who knew him well were warmly at- 
tached to him. He in return was loyal and devoted to his 



Albuquerque, N. M. 63 

friends. His bright mind, congenial disposition, ready con- 
versational powers, made him a delightful comrade. 

We wonder why it is that one so gifted, so useful, so 
loved, should be taken thus early in his promising career 
from the world in which he is so sadly needed. We can 
only bow in resignation to the will of Him "who doeth all 
things well." But our sorrow is not unmixed with re- 
joicing. Hope whispers of a brighter morrow, and faith 
proclaims, "We shall meet again." 

"Green be the turf above thee, 
Friend of my better days. 
None knew thee but to love thee, 
None named thee but to praise. 

"Tears fell, when thou wert dying, 
From eyes unused to weep, 
And long where thou art lying 
Will tears the cold turf steep. 

"When hearts whose truth was proven, 
Like thine, are laid in earth, 
There should a wreath be woven 
To tell the world their worth." 



64 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

The Male Quartette, Albuquerque 

By Prof. J. N. Cadby. 

Knowing Mr. McNiel's highly refined, generous and 
sympathetic nature, one would expect him to be, as he 
was, a sweet singer. Somehow it fitted his disposition so 
well. Like his preaching, his singing was genuine; one 
knew that he thought of what he sang and believed what 
he was singing. His musical Virginian accent, his rich, 
clear tenor voice, and his oratorical powers, all combined 
to make his singing reflect his true, upright character and 
sympathetic disposition. He loved music, and sang even 
when he knew he was overtaxing his limited strength, be- 
cause he believed in music as a means of elevating man- 
kind. 

As a director he was very good ; his understanding 
of music, his enthusiasm and his untiring energies carried 
his male quartette over difficulties which would have caused 
most people to give up in despair. 

He was not physically able to sing on Sundays, in addi- 
tion to preaching, without greatly overtaxing his vocal or- 
gans, but he continued to sing with us until the end. He 
carried the burden of the quartette, selecting music, arrang- 
ing rehearsals, and, what was no small task in the transient 
Albuquerque population, kept up the personnel of the quar- 
tette. 

Those of us who were fortunate enough to sing with 
him and to hear him sing, and to come within the circle 
of his influence, thank God for McNiel. who was one of 
God's masterpieces, an oasis in our western desert, a shining 
light to the sick and dying; sympathetic, affectionate, en- 
couraging and faithful "unto death." He has gone on to 
sing the new song, "where there is no more sickness, nor 
sorrow, nor pain, nor death." 

Members of the quartette were : Mr. McNiel, Prof. 
J N. Cadby, Dr. Palmer and Mr. Collister. 



VII 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 



"He sank to rest as sinks the evening sun, 
A prayer upon his lips, "Thy will be done." 
Wondering, we look toward the sunny skies, 
Half hoping there to see those pitying eyes; 
Those eyes so deep, so gray, so kind, so true, 
Those tender, friendly eyes — for me, for you I" 



VII 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 

"He was responsible for the changed ideas of life that 
I had. He helped me to know what was really worth while 
in life, and to realize that there is something infinitely higher 
and better than this worldly life." 



"The sweetest picture in my memory of Mr. McNiel, 
and the one that came to my mind and dried the tears when 
I first heard the news of his passing, was when the Evan- 
gelistic Band was holding meetings at Hammond, Ind. 

"It was Sunday night, the last meeting closing the 
series. The service was over, and the aftermeeting was 
lingering, the people loath to leave, and the Band loath to 
have some of them go who were still in the valley of 
decision. 

"I had stepped into the vestibule with a young couple, 
who were leaving, and when I returned to the auditorium 
Mr. McNiel was again speaking, pleading for his Master, 
in tones so sweet and so musical. 1 remember being im- 
pressed with the beauty of his voice and the evident 
sweetness and kindliness that pulsated through his earnest 
and tender appeal. Even then he had been sick during all 
the meetings. Perhaps it was the sense of anxiety and 
solicitude for our leader, which hung over all the fellows 
of the Band even in the work of the meetings, or perhaps 
it was the dread of what the end of this weakness might 
be to one whom we all cherished, but anyway I know my 
heart went out to dear old McNiel as he stood there, em- 
bodying it seems to me now something of the love of the 
Saviour, who forgot Himself and gave Himself for others. 

"Mr. McNiel's leadership was perfect, but of no one 
could it be said more truthfully that 'His banner over us 



68 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

was love.' His modesty was so genuine, and with all his 
gifts, he was yet so unassuming. 

"One other picture of him, which is so fresh in my 
mind, I know you will be glad to hear. 

"One day perhaps a score of us theologues were at 
our Divinity table in the beautiful men's dining room at 
the University. It was shortly before he left for Albu- 
querque. Somehow the conversation drifted to some knotty 
higher critical problem which partook of the nature of 
a doubt about something or other and the fellows were 
expressing various views, when McNiel spoke up in such 
earnestness but with that happy smile of his, and that little 
chuckle which he had, and said, 'Well, I don't care, / know 
I have a Saviour, and nobody can take him away from 
me.' " 



"It is wonderful what amount of work he crowded into 
his short life, with such ill health to fight against. He 
always lived near to God and that accounts for it/' 



From a letter to his parents by Mrs. A. Holmboe, repre- 
senting the Ladies' Missionary Circle of Albuquerque: 

"Our blessed Lord has been pleased to find in His vine- 
yard the rounded out and completed life of your noble son 
and has called him to higher realms of glory. 

"We who have labored by his side, been guided by his 
wisdom, have sustained a great loss for his presence ever 
lifted us to that nobler life with Jesus. It has drawn us 
away from the muck-rake service to this world and shown 
us the joy and peace of a closer walk with God. In his 
very last message to us he could not have besought us more 
earnestly or left a more lasting impression. 

"May you, in this dark hour, be able to say as sweetly 
and as resignedly as he did in his last words in the service, 
'Thy will, O Lord, be done.' Think what it means to claim 
a son whose life has been so pure, whose character so 



Extracts From Letters 69 

true, whose influence for the Master so far-reaching! Not 
only has our church learned to love him, but the whole 
city of Albuquerque is mourning his loss. 

"As with our Saviour so with Brother McNiel, his 
sojourn in this world was thirty-three years. 

"Oh, the lives that have been touched by his ! 

"His patient and enduring love for the brethren and 
his exalted Christian life will inspire us to a more consistent 
life for Christ." 



"I was most intimately acquainted with Brother McNeil. 
Though only a few years my senior, he baptized me and 
preached my ordination sermon. There was no man who 
took the place in my life that he did; and it was because 
of his high ideals and noble Christian character. The more 
I knew him the less was I surprised at his Christian 
manliness." 



"While I prize his sermons, which are rare, and all of 
his public work, the choicest after all is the man that is back 
of everything." 



Mr. and Mrs. W. of Cleveland, O., were in Albu- 
querque Christmas, 1906, and heard Mr. McNiel's 
Christmas sermon, and remarked to a member afterward, 
"We were saying as we came away from the church how 
much a sermon like that must cost ; not in mental effort 
alone, but most of all in cultivation of heart and life! We 
can't understand how a little place like this can have such 
a man as that." 



From a letter written to Mr. McNiel by one of his 
members, June 1905 : 

"There is one thing you must not lose sight of, you are 



70 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

a great blessing to us. It should comfort you greatly. All 
these invalids and their self-denying relatives need great 
spiritual sermons, not from a man who never was sick, but 
from one who suffers pain and self-denial as they do, then 
their words go home to their hearts and lives. It is as 
Paul said of Jesus, 'For we have not a high priest who can 
not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but one 
who was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without 
sin.' You suffer as they do here and you can reach their 
hearts and lives. God bless you in this great work, and 
speak through you to these people. You are an apostle to 
the consumptives, dear brother ; God bless you !" 



From a member after he died: 

"How much such sweet characters as Mr. McNiel's 
are missed in this world. If the world only had more like 
him how much better it would be. I always felt each time 
I heard Mr. McNiel that I was lifted a little higher. Each 
talk with him gave me a new thought." 



"When I met him last summer (Washington, D. C., 
1906,) I told him I was glad to meet one man whom every 
one loved." 



"The message he brought to us (Pueblo, Colorado,) on 
Thursday evening has been often spoken of, but one little 
incident stands out more prominently than any other. It 
was one night when he had been in my home. You know 
there are some people you can get closer to than others. 
When I walked to the car with him he said, in referring to 
his health, 'God knows best and I am trusting Him.' These 
are common words, but they seemed to come to me with 
peculiar force, and have made an impression on my mind 
I never will forget." 



Extracts From Letters 71 



"He was my closest and dearest friend. We were in 
college together five years. No nobler character could be 
found anywhere. He was making his mark in the world 
and would have been one of our brightest lights." 



"1 am so thankful I could attend the last prayer meet- 
ing he conducted on earth. These words come to me from 
his prayer, 'Dear Lord, if there is anything in our hearts 
that keeps us from Thee, take it away.' Not long before 
he died I went to hear him preach, though I am a member 
of another church. During the sermon he said, "I am going 
to repeat some words that I have often used in your hearing, 
because I love them so. 'Come unto Ale all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.' Then he 
spoke such beautiful words of comfort, 'when you are 
weary, heartsick, tired of the turmoil and strife of life, 
turn to Jesus, he will give you rest, peace.' I can not tell 
you the rest; I only remember tears ran down my cheeks 
as I listened to him." 



"I went into the college building and to the room we 
occupied. I stood there alone and thought of our past years 
and him whose life was so valuable to his companions. 
Honored he was and he deserves much honor." 



"The story of this song ('One Sweetly Solemn 
Thought') in the last two weeks of his life seems remark- 
able. In my memory it is sacredly dedicated to this funeral 
service and I do not wish to use it at another." 



The Baptist Standard, Chicago, 111., introduces a long 
article by saying: "One of the ablest, most promising and 



72 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 



best beloved of recent students of the Divinity School has 
speedily followed our lamented Dean Hulbert to the better 
land." 



The Religious Herald of Richmond, Va., pays him a 
beautiful tribute from which we can quote but a few words : 

"He was a preacher of exceptional powers, persuasive 
and thoughtful in his message, earnest in his work. He had 
a burning love for the salvation of souls, and many were 
converted under his able ministry." 



VIII 
MEMORIAL SERVICES 



THINE. ( 

Whose eye foresaw this way? 

Not mine. 
Whose hand marked out this day ? 

Not mine. 
A clearer eye than mine, 

'Twas Thine. 
A wiser hand than mine, 

'Twas Thine! 
Then let my hand be still 

In Thine, 
And let me find my will 

In Thine ! 

Maltbie D. Babcock. 



VIII 
MEMORIAL SERVICES 



A Memorial and a Tribute 

By Rev. W. Edgar Woodruff. 

Soon after the death of Mr. McNiel it was suggested 
that a simultaneous memorial service be conducted by his 
clergymen friends in their several churches. The memorial 
was delayed, however, for several months owing to the 
absence in the Orient of some of his most intimate friends. 
Upon their return the plan was carried out, and copies of 
the following letter, of which we give extracts, were mailed 
to all of his most intimate college and university friends. 
The letter itself is a good explanation of the spirit and 
purpose of the memorial : 

"Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 28, 1907. 
"Dear Brother : 

"For some time the friends of the late J. W. T. McNiel 
have had in mind a simultaneous memorial service, but the 
absence of some of his friends in the Orient has delayed it 
hitherto. But now such a service seems to be opportune. 

"The plan in brief is as follows: (1) That all of his 
most intimate college and university friends who are in the 
pastorate be invited to co-operate. (2) That the morning 
or evening service of September 15 be made a memorial 
service in which his life and influence upon his fellows 
be made the basis of the message; or (3) That his character 
be used as illustrative of the truth of the hour. 

"His friends feel that his life, though brief, was one 
of unusual usefulness and helpfulness, and that it may 
profitably be made the basis of a most inspiring message. 
Blessed is the man who wears a smile through sunshine 



76 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

and through shower and can make a place of exile a place 
of cheer ! Spiritual realities have been made more tangible 
to some of us because of his unwavering faith; the Unseen 
more inviting because he is there. As one of his friends 
you are invited to co-operate in this memorial." 

It was not possible to reach some of Mr. McNiel's 
friends as their addresses could not be ascertained; others 
could not participate because of absence from their pulpits 
on vacation; while a few were not located in pastorates. 
There were doubtless other pastors who participated but 
failed to notify me. The following replied: Rev. Alva J. 
Brasted, Lisbon, N. D. ; Rev. John M. Linden, Oregon City, 
Ore. ; Rev. J. C. Garth, Napa, Cal. ; Rev. John E. Ayscue, 
Greenville, N. C. ; Rev. Charles B. Elliott, Breckenridge, 
Minn. ; Dr. Rolvix Harlin, Dixon, Ills. ; Rev. W. L. Richard- 
son, Athens, W. Va. ; Dr. John W. Bailey, Oskosh, Wis. ; 
Rev. John H. Larson, New York, N. Y. ; Rev. W. Edgar 
Woodruff, Minneapolis, Minn. ; Rev. J. A. Shaw, Albu- 
querque, N. M. ; Rev. Lester M. Burwell, Reno, Nev., 
pastor of First M. E. Church ; Rev. W. J. Marsh, pastor of 
First Congregational Church, Albuquerque, N. M. 

[The address that follows is substantially the sermon 
that the author of this article (and originator of the plan 
of memorial services) delivered on the occasion of the 
memorial, Sept. 15, and is reproduced here by request. — Ed.] 

"The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree : he 
shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." — Psalm 92 :12. 

In a much-worn Bible that was given me by Rev. J. W. 
T. McNiel when he was leaving Chicago for New Mexico, 
I find marked the words of our text. It was the Bible he used 
when a student in college. Its dilapidated condition bears 
witness to the service it had rendered. On looking it over I 
find that the torn and faded leaves are in themselves an index 
to McNiel's character. The Psalms, Isaiah, the Gospel of 
John and Paul's letters, especially Romans, bear unmistak- 
able evidence as to the source and strength of his faith. 
Among the many marked passages in this book that was 



Memorial Services 11 

his companion and inspiration, I find that of our text, and 
I take it as illustrative of both the beauty and influence of 
his life. 

The beauty of the palm-tree was proverbial throughout 
the ancient East. The Bedouin all but worshipped it. 

The tall, serene, majestic palm is a fitting picture of the 
righteous man. Encircling the oasis like a cluster of 
emeralds, or skirting the banks of the river like sentinels 
on duty, the palm beckons the weary and dust-covered 
caravan to rest and refreshment. The great personalities of 
the world, the real Giant Great Hearts, raise their heads 
above the barren wastes and commonplaceness of the rest 
of us as the palm above the cacti. They are to us a place 
of refreshment and cheer. So it was with McNiel. He was 
not the tall redwood of the California forests, awe-inspiring 
and depressing in its immensity, but he was a big brother 
whose friendship and help any one was proud to receive. 
Xo one ever felt the least hesitancy in going to him with 
the most perplexing soul problem. Just because his religion 
was of the muscular, athletic variety, free from the veneer of 
piestic phraseology, he readily became the councillor and 
friend of college and university men. 

Many species of palm flourish amid desolate and desert 
environment. So the life of the righteous man stands out 
in striking contrast to the barren sage brush life of those 
about him. 

In the early spring the desert is clad in a mantle of 
green, verily it blossoms as the rose. But let the scorching 
heat of summer fall upon it and its beauty fades in a single 
day. So the faith of many of us flourishes and is beautiful 
so long as we are bedewed with the moisture of love and 
friends and prosperity; but let the sun of life's shifting 
seasons fall full upon us and our faith and Christian sweet- 
ness withers like the desert grass ! Not so the giant palm. 
Xot so our friend McNiel. 

Few young men have been put to the test of faith 
that he was and kept sweet. With him climax was followed 
by anti-climax, defeat (in health) followed on the heels of 



78 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

victory, and grief close upon rejoicing. Graduated from 
college with honors and married to a beautiful young wife, 
they entered the University of Chicago with the full flush 
of hope and victory. A few months and his young wife 
is resting beneath the sod in her Virgina home, and he is 
shepherding the flock of the Maryland Avenue Baptist 
Church of Washington, D. C. After a year he again 
resumed his theological work in the University of Chicago. 
The Evangelistic Band, an organization of ten young theo- 
logical students banded together for the purpose of doing 
evangelistic work in the vicinity of Chicago, had just been 
organized. Mr. McNiel, because of his experience in such 
work, was made leader. The organization met with unex- 
pected success. At Michigan City, Indiana, as the result 
of three days of services the Band had the pleasure of seeing 
seventy-five persons surrender themselves to Christ and 
take him as Saviour and Lord. When we returned to the 
university the divinity students showed as much genuine 
enthusiasm over the work done as though we had been a 
football team returning from a victory. McNiel was the 
recognized champion. Many times before he had known 
what it meant to hear his name cheered as an athletic hero, 
but to know that he was the recognized leader of a "team" 
for Christ both pleased and humbled him. He was most 
happy, and the future prospects looked bright. He was soon 
to finish his theological course, and there were churches both 
East and West that were in correspondence with him relative 
to his future location. But no ! Such was not to be his 
lot. Like a bolt from the blue the order of his physician 
came to go to New Mexico, there to wage a life and death 
struggle. Slowly and unnoticed the disease had crept upon 
him. His friends were the first to detect it and advised him 
to consult a physician, but his hopeful nature and the fact 
that he was an athlete was enough to deceive both himself 
and the first physician that examined him. By much per- 
suasion he was finally induced to consult another doctor. 
I shall never forget the Sunday morning I accompanied him 
to the physician's office to receive the final verdict. The 



Memorial Services 79 



doctor gave it to him and then advised him to leave Chicago 
at once for a more favorable climate, saying, "You have a 
righting chance." 

So near the realization of his dream of a completed 
theological training, a parish, and a home, and yet so far ! 
"Exiled" said his friends, but let me hasten to say that he 
never spoke of it in that way. 

Within a week he was leaving for New Mexico, not in 
dejection and discouragement but with faith in his heavenly 
Father and confidence that he was going to get well. His 
purpose was to go to Santa Fe and join a government 
ranger, who should help him to live his life in the open. 
But circumstances decreed it otherwise, and he soon found 
his way into a place of usefulness — a thing he would have 
done had he been banished to Siberia. Notwithstanding 
all these disappointments he remained steadfast, unshaken, 
hopeful. Oliver Goldsmith was describing him when he 
said of the village preacher : 

"As some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form, 
Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm, 
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
Eternal sunshine settles on its head." 

One is led to ask for the secret of all this, as even the 
casual observer asks for the secret of the palm's verdure 
and thrift. Situated as it often is close to, if not in the 
very midst of, a desert environment, why is it that the 
palm nevertheless finds nourishment and flourishes while its 
companions, the sage brush and cacti, like unthrifty peas- 
ants, eke from the soil a bare existence? Why is it that 
even in college and university circles we find a number 
of men, with equal advantages, pursuing the same courses 
of study, but one of them towers above the others as the 
palm above the cacti. The secret of the palm is the secret 
of the righteous man. They both have a secret fountain 
of nourishment whose source is unknown, or whose fullness 
remains untapped by their fellows. As the palm seeks the 
rim of the oasis, hugs the banks of the winding river, or 



80 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

when found upon the desert, sends its roots down deep and 
taps the arteries of moisture below, so the good man keeps 
his life in touch with the Source of life. 

No one can examine the worn and frayed Bible that 
J. W. T. McNiel used during his early life and fail to 
find the source and explanation of his superior character. 
In the Gospel of Matthew he has underlined Pilate's ques- 
tion, "What shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ?" 
Men have done many things with him. Some have ignored 
him ; some have pretended to accept him and have presented 
to the world such a caricature of His face as to cause His 
name to become a hiss and a by-word. Mr. McNiel took 
this question seriously and answered it intelligently. Wel- 
coming Christ as the light and inspiration of his life, he 
made Him attractive to others. Christianity's best adver- 
tisement is not upon paper but upon the hearts of her loyal 
subjects. 

There is yet another thought contained in our text 
which should have attention. "The righteous shall flourish 
like a palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebnaon." 
I suspect the Psalmist thought of the palm more as a shade 
tree, an ornament, than as a thing of utility. To him it 
represented the aesthetic quality of the good life ; that about 
the good man which is pleasing to the eye and refreshing 
to the spirit. But it is not enough to be good ; one should 
be good for something. So in describing the utility aspect 
of the good man's life he changes the parallelism a little 
and compares him to the cedar in Lebanon. 

The forest of gigantic cedars upon picturesque Mount 
Lebanon was one of the marvels of the age. Not only do 
the Hebrew writers of that time mention them but reference 
is made to them by the Greek and Egyptian writers as well. 
They were both pleasing to the eye and also valuable as 
building material. From their tall trunks the palace of 
David and the temple of Solomon were constructed. The 
life of the good man is builded into the temple of his fellow- 
men. McNiel is dead only in the sense that Lebanon has 
been denuded of her beautiful forest. The trees became 



Memorial Services 81 

the temple of Jehovah where they wrought themselves into 
the emotions, vows and conduct of the Hebrew people. 
They were transformed into poetry, psalm and prayer. So 
the life of our friend has been wrought, let us hope, into the 
temple of humanity. The impress he left upon many of 
us will be felt years to come. He numbered among his 
friends people of many beliefs. A young Hebrew in the 
University of Chicago was often dubbed a ''Christian" 
because of his admiration for McNiel. A Catholic lady 
writes me expressing her admiration for him. Another 
friend, writing of the memorial services says, "May the 
Lord use these services to make more McNiels." 

Rev. J. M. Linden, pastor of the First Baptist Church 
of Oregon City, Ore., writes : "I shall never forget his 
influence over me, especially when he was leader of the 
Evangelistic Band at the university. What sermons he 
preached during that campaign ! His Lord stood out and 
McNiel was out of sight. I tell you, Woodruff, he changed 
the message for some of us as we listened to him." 

Although he was only thirty-three years of age when 
he was called away, the influence that he left upon those 
who knew him forces me to believe that his life accomplished 
the purpose whereunto God had planned it. What he might 
have accomplished had he been spared no one can con- 
jecture. But when my mind begins to brood over the brevity 
of his life I console myself with the words of Shelley, found 
in his lament over the untimely death of the young poet 
Keats : 

"Peace, peace ! he is not dead, he doth not sleep 

He hath awakened from the dream of life — 

'Tis we, who, lost in stormy visions, keep 

With phantoms an unprofitable strife, 

And in mad trance, strike with our spirits knife 

In vulnerable nothings. We decay 

Like corpses in a charnel; fear and grief 

Convulse us and consume us day by day, 

And cold hopes swarm like worms within our living clay. 



82 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

"He has outsoared the shadow of our night; 

Envy and calumny and hate and pain, 

And that unrest which men miscall delight, 

Can touch him not and torture not again; 

From the contagion of the world's slow stain 

He is secure, and now can never mourn 

A heart grown cold, a head grown gray in vain ; 

Nor, when the spirit's self has ceased to burn, 

With sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn." 

Dear boy, thou wert such a mixture of man, woman 
and child that we all loved thee, nor now love thee less. We 
say not, "Rest in peace," for such a spirit as thine cannot 
rest, neither here nor there, but ever must it search for 
Truth, Beauty, Duty — God. Call to us out of those 
Mysterious Depths and teach us by our memory of thee so 
to blend the man, woman and child in us that our spirits 
may be even as thine. 

We leave this flower upon thy new-made grave — to- 
morrow it shall wither — and turn us to our tasks, cheered 
by our memory of thee, and with a greater confidence in the 
Unseen, because thou art there. 



Memorial Services 83 

Memorial Service Held in Potomac, Va., Aug. 4, 1907 

MR. MCNIEL'S FIRST PASTORATE. 

By Mrs. Annie B. Grigsby. 

The morning and afternoon services of the Baptist 
Church at Potomac, Va., on Sunday, August 4, were 
devoted to a memorial service in honor of him who 
for four and one-half years, January 1895-August 1899, 
was its pastor. 

The sincere regard in which Mr. McNiel was held 
by the members of this church, was evidenced by the large 
attendance at both services. 

His pastorate began while he was a student at Rich- 
mond College and was characterized by the faithfulness 
and devotion that made his comparatively brief life so full 
of useful and blessed service to his fellows. 

The exercises were presided over by Deacon William 
J. Rogers, and were unusually interesting and appropriate. 

Dr. Charles J. Ladson, of Washington, D. C, a devoted 
friend of Mr. McNiel's, made an address on "Mr. McNiel 
as a Man;" Mr. W. J. Rogers, "Mr. McNiel as a Minister," 
and Rev. H. H. Fones, pastor of the Hanover Baptist 
Church, "Mr. McNiel as an Evangelist." 

A sermon appropriate to the occasion was preached by 
Rev. R. S. Monds, pastor of churches on the Eastern shore, 
who was a close friend of Mr. McNiel, both having been 
ordained to the ministry at the same time and with the 
same service. 

The exercises were interspersed with beautiful music, 
favorite pieces of Mr. McNiel's, including a trio, "Far 
Away," by Dr. C. J. Ladson, Mrs. C. J. Ladson, of Wash- 
ington, D. C, and Miss Louise Rogers, King George. A 
solo, "Jesus Lover of My Soul," by Miss E. Pearle Grigsby, 
of Washington, D. C. ; solo, "Only a Dream," Dr. C. J. 
Ladson ; a duet, "Forever With the Lord," by Misses E. 
Pearle and Mabel Grigsby; solos, "Cast Thy Bread upon 



84 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

the Waters," and "Sometime We'll Understand," by Mrs. 
Daisy Coakley Staples, of Washington, D. C, and a solo, 
"One Sweetly Solemn Thought," by Mrs. Annie E. Grigsby, 
of Washington, D. C. 

Resolutions adopted by the First Baptist Church of 
Albuquerque, N. M., of which Mr. McNiel was pastor at 
the time of his death, were read by Mrs. Grigsby, at the 
morning service, and resolutions were also presented and 
adopted, expressing the affectionate remembrance in which 
he is held by the members of The Potomac Baptist Church 
and the people of this community in general. 

Mr. McNiel's four and one-half years of service made 
an abiding impression on the life of the Potomac church 
and it is perhaps more than a coincidence that this service 
in which the church testified her love for him, was followed 
by one of the most successful meetings in her history, 
thirty-four having been received by baptism and four by 
restoration ; thus, "He being dead, yet speaketh." 

Resolutions presented and adopted : 

WhEREas, On March 6, 1907, in Albuquerque, N. M., 
our beloved brother and former pastor, Rev. J. W. T. 
McNiel, was called to his reward in heaven ; and 

Whereas, For four and one-half years he so faithfully 
and efficiently served us as pastor and by his consecrated 
life, soul stirring sermons and genial companionship did so 
much to build up our church and community ; and 

Whereas, We wish to give some public expression to 
the feelings of our hearts; therefore be it 

Resolved — 1. That while we do not understand why 
one so young, so useful and promising should be taken away 
in the beginning of his work, yet we acknowledge with pro- 
found reverence the supremacy, wisdom and love of our 
God and meekly bow to His will ; we are assured that there 
are wise purposes underlying this divine act and are com- 
forted with the thought, that our loss is the blessed gain of 
our deceased friend ; 

Resolved— 2. That in the death of Brother McNiel, 



Memorial Services 85 

his family lose a loved one, of which they were justly proud 
and over whose silent grave they have cause to shed their 
tears ; the cause of Christ in general loses a minister, who 
loved the message God gave him for a dying world and 
who, in every trust divinely committed, was ever true; he 
possessed strong faith in God, he was sincere in his devo- 
tions and ever ardent in his efforts to reach men's hearts 
and win them for his Lord; he was richly endowed for his 
work and in a very special sense was he fitted for evangel- 
istic work in which he so greatly delighted and was wonder- 
fully successful. While his active life was very short, 
covering as it did a period of not more than twelve years, 
yet scores of precious souls were led to the cross through 
his earnest work and many stars added to his heavenly 
crown; this church in particular keenly feels his loss, for 
it was here, the first and most of his service as a minister 
was rendered; we learned to love him for his work's sake 
as well as for his own ; our hearts loved to nestle beside 
his loving heart; he led us all to higher ideals, loftier 
purposes and holier ambitions ; his work in our midst will 
never die and his memory is enshrined in the hearts and 
minds of us all ; heaven has an added charm, since he is 
there ; 

Resolved — 3. That .we do hereby extend our heartfelt 
sympathy to each and all of his dear relatives, with whom 
he was such a favorite and whose hearts are almost broken 
at the thought of his departure; we pledge to them our 
earnest prayer, that the God who filled the soul and life 
of their dear one with joy while he lived, may soothe their 
aching hearts as they pass through the shadows of earth's 
journey. May they be guarded and guided until the end 
and then rest with their precious loved ones beneath the 
shade of heaven's trees forever at home ; 

Resolved — 4. That these resolutions be made a part of 
the records of The Potomac Baptist Church, a copy sent to 
the bereaved family of our brother and copies furnished The 
Religious Herald and The Free Lance for publication. 



I am a stranger here, within a foreign land, 
My home is far away, upon a golden strand ; 
Ambassador to be of realms beyond the sea, 
I'm here on business for my King. 

This is the King's command, that all men ev'rywhere, 
Repent and turn away, from sin's seductive snare; 
That all who will obey, with Him shall reign for aye, 
And that's my business for my King. 

My home is brighter far than Sharon's rosy plain, 
Eternal life and joy thro'out its vast domain; 
My sov'reign bids me tell how mortals there may dwell, 
And that's my business for my King. 

This is the message that I bring, 

A message angels fair would sing; 

"Oh, be ye reconciled," thus saith my Lord and King, 

"Oh, be ye reconciled to God." 



IX 
SERMONS 



'Teach us the lesson of his life, 

The secret of his power 
To scatter light and sunshine 

When threat'ning storm-clouds lower 
To sympathize with sorrow's tears, 

To greet with joy the glad, 
To carry hope to fainting hearts 

And comfort to the sad. v 



IX 
ERMONS 



Christians of loday Need the Courage of Paul 

Text : Romans 1 :8-17. Paul has about completed his 
work in the east, and consequently begins to turn his face 
toward the west. Being, in a peculiar sense, the apostle 
to the Gentiles, he desires to stand within the gates of 
Rome, the proud mistress of the world, and there preach 
the Gospel of the Son of God. But this desire could not 
be realized, for he must first go to Jerusalem to bear to 
the needy Christians there a contribution from the Gentile 
Christians of Galatia, Macedonia and Achaia, and thus bind 
together by bonds of love and gratitude the two great divi- 
sions of the church and avert a schism of the body of Christ. 
This trip to Jerusalem will necessitate a considerable delay 
in getting to Rome, for, even if he has a prosperous journey, 
he will consume considerable time an going from Corinth, 
where he now is, to Jerusalem and back to Rome. But, 
in the meantime, he wishes to assure his Roman brothers 
of his desire to come to them, and also to fortify their 
faith against the doctrine of the Judaizers, who may come 
at any time and lead them from the true faith. Therefore, 
Paul writes the epistle to the Romans, the very heart of 
which is a comprehensive description of righteousness apart 
from works of law and available through faith for both 
Jew and Gentile. But Paul does not purpose to make his 
letter a permanent substitute for a personal visit, for his 
heart is still set upon eventually preaching Christ to those 
also that are in Rome. This desire is shown by his attitude 
toward the brethren at Rome. He is thankful for the 
faith of the Roman Christians and prays that he may be 
prospered by the will of God to come unto them. 

He doubtless felt keenly the trying circumstances under 



90 Rev. j. W. T. McNiel 

which Christians were laboring in that wicked and idolatrous 
city. We labor today under such favorable circumstances 
that it is difficult for us to realize what suffering and what 
hardships and what self-sacrifices were involved in con- 
fessing the name of Jesus. They were confronted daily 
with trials and sufferings, and quite well did Paul know 
that those were times which tried the very souls of men. 
His heart, therefore, went out to them in sympathy and 
love, and he longed to see them and impart unto them some 
spiritual gift that they might be thoroughly grounded in 
the faith and be strengthened for the noble work of living 
and laboring for God. 

Rome, moreover, was a strategic point. To establish 
the work in Rome meant much for the Gospel and for the 
world. As all roads led to Rome, so all roads led from 
Rome. To establish firmly the Gospel in Rome meant to 
send the message of salvation through every channel and 
avenue of the great empire, just as blood is sent out from 
the heart into every artery and vein of the human body. 

But, in thinking of his going to Rome, the apostle's 
love flows even more freely when he touches upon his great 
obligation. First, he was to preach the Gospel to all men. 
"I am debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the 
wise and to the foolish." God had given him a world-wide 
message of love, and he could not rest until he had, to the 
fullest measure of his ability, proclaimed it to all classes 
and conditions of men. Reflection upon this obligation 
warms his great heart, and defiance to all the satanic 
powers of wicked Rome flashed from his eyes as he thought 
of standing within her gates to discharge the duty that 
had been divinely laid upon him on that eventful day of 
his journey from Jerusalem to Damascus. He has come 
face to face with the world's Redeemer, and his theological 
system has been turned upside down. Instead of narrow, 
bigoted Pharisaism, he has a world-wide salvation to pro- 
claim; instead of thinking of the Gentile as unworthy to 
be classed with the highly exalted Jew, he recognizes in 
him a brother. The great truth of the universal brother- 



Sermons 9 1 



hood of man has been learned from the awful tragedy of 
Calvary, where Jesus tasted death for every man. He sees 
that there is now in the eyes of God no difference between 
the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich 
unto all that call upon Him. He recognizes that the human 
soul is loved by Christ and should be sought by every faith- 
ful servant of God, regardless of the name it wears, the 
flesh that embodies it, or the nation that claims it. Paul 
has seen that the Son of Man rises above the parentage, 
the blood, the narrow horizon which bounded, as it seemed, 
His human life ; He is the archetypal man in whose presence 
distinctions of race, intervals of ages, types of civilizations, 
degrees of mental culture, are as nothing. Paul's own soul 
had found in Jesus the healing fountain, the purifying 
water, the saving grace of God, and he was rejoicing in 
the exalted privilege of pointing earth's burdened and weary 
hearts to this everlasting remedy. He had been placed 
upon the walls of Zion as a sentinel to sound the signal 
of the approach of the enemy, and he would not prove 
recreant in the face of duty. 

Even so, you and I, who, as we trust, have been saved 
by the grace of God, and have had committed to our keeping 
the message of life, are bound by all that is good and true 
and sacred to tell troubled hearts that there is peace ; to 
tell the sin-sick soul that there is a Great Physician ; to tell 
those who are in spiritual darkness that there is light ; to tell 
those who are bound and imprisoned by sin that the Lord 
looseth the prisoners. Shall not our hearts fill with trans- 
porting joy and our feet quicken their steps as we hasten 
to meet our divinely-appointed obligation to men ? 

Are you ready to pay this debt? Paul was ready to 
respond to the call of duty. "So as much as in me is, I 
am ready to preach the Gospel to you also that are in 
Rome." He was waiting and praying for the opportunity 
to lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes. How is 
it with you? Are you ready for the command to march? 
If your country needed you today, you would be ready to 
march into the very jaws of death to save your flag from 



92 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

disgrace and your native land from humiliation. But God 
calls us to a greater service than bearing arms in earthly 
combat. Our brothers are perishing in their sins, and the 
Divine voice comes to us, saying, "Whom shall I send and 
who will go for us ?" The true heart and loyal sends back 
the response, "Here am I ; send me." 

"It may not be on the mountain's height, 

Or over the stormy sea ; 
It may not be at the battle's front, 

My Lord will have need of me. 
But if, by a still, small voice He calls 

To paths I do not know, 
I'll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in Thine 

'I'll go where You want me to go.' " 

Having declared his readiness to go, the apostle turns 
to the consideration of his great message. He is no sound- 
ing brass or tinkling cymbal, for he has a living, powerful 
message of Divine love that has come to him from the 
great compassionate heart of God, and has penetrated the 
deepest recesses of his soul. In this message he glories. 
When he says, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of 
Christ," he does not mean only that he is not ashamed ot 
the Gospel, for his chief delight and highest glory was in 
his message. His declaration here is, in its real significance, 
very similar to that of Gal. 6:14 — "God forbid that I should 
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 
the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Christ 
was his message — Christ, who is the brightness of the glory 
and the express image of the Father — Christ, who bore our 
sins in His own body on the tree, who died like a god, 
rose triumphant over death, and returned to the Father, who 
"made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, 
far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, 
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but 
also in that which is to come ; and he put all things in sub- 
jection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all 



jermons 



93 



things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him 
that filleth all in all." Such a Saviour is worthy of the 
adoration of every heart. The Greeks gloried in their strong 
and flexible language, which has been for ages the admira- 
tion of the human race ; they gloried in their profound phil- 
osophy, which exhibits some of the most clear-sighted rea- 
soning the world has ever produced ; they gloried in their 
exquisitely beautiful paintings and sculpture, which perhaps 
may never be equaled. The Romans gloried in their im- 
perial power in arms, their invincible Csesars, their match-, 
less city, the proud, defiant mistress of the world, with her 
spacious theatres, magnificent palaces, and temples gilded 
with pure gold. But all these, in the mind of Paul, became 
as nothing in the presence of God's greatest gift to men. 
We have a Saviour in whom we can glory. May no earth- 
born cloud dim our vision of God in Christ. When all 
earthly glory has faded as the autumn leaf in the silent 
grove, and earth has been rolled back as a scroll, Christ 
will still live and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

"In the cross of Christ I glory, 

Towering o'er the wrecks of time ; 
All the light of sacred story 

Gathers 'round its head sublime." 

Paul saw also that his message was the power of God 
unto salvation to every one that believeth ; to the Jew first, 
and also to the Greek. You that have trusted your all to 
Jesus have found the truth that is spoken of here. You 
can testify to the power of the Gospel to save men from 
sin. You have many a time lifted your heart to God and 
exclaimed, "Oh, to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm con- 
strained to be." You have doubtless thought how strange 
that Christ should take your sinful heart, purify it, and lift 
you into holy fellowship with the Father. It is because the 
Gospel is the power of God. 

When Jesus began His ministry of love and mercy, 
the Jew was weighted down by rabbinical legislation. The 



94 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

Greek philosophy had proved its own weakness in the pres- 
ence of sin. It had no life for the dead heart, no comfort 
for the troubled soul, no power to forgive sin. The Romans 
were losing confidence in their gods. They did not find 
them "a very present help in time of need." These gods 
had no message for the sin-burdened soul. How different 
from all these was the message which Paul had for the 
Romans. "For the word of God is living and active, and 
sharper than any two-edged sword." If we are to save 
men, we must lay hold upon this powerful message and 
preach it to men. This message alone can bind up the 
broken-hearted, give liberty to the captives, and the opening 
of the prison to them that are bound. It is the power of 
Heaven come down to earth. 

Again, Paul observed that in his message is revealed 
a righteousness of God from faith to faith. He declares 
it boldly: "For therein is revealed a righteousness of God 
from faith to faith." Then he quotes from the prophet 
Habakkuk, "as it is written, but the righteous shall live 
by faith." The word righteousness is used by Paul in this 
letter to mean God's way or plan of accepting men. Hence, 
he desires to come to the people with a message that reveals 
God's way of receiving men into holy fellowship with 
Himself. 

What message could possibly be of greater moment? 
It is a message that stays man's heart upon God and trans- 
fers his affections from earth to heaven. It was the poet 
Blair, 1 think, who said : 

"Some angel guide my pencil while I draw 
What nothing less than angel can exceed, 
A man on earth devoted to the skies." 

But, mark you, this righteousness is revealed from faith 
to faith, or out of faith into faith. This means that the 
Christian life begins with faith to Christ; it is continued 
and strengthened by faith in Christ, and it is completed — 
gloriously completed — by faith in Christ. 



Sermons 95 



Character Must Be a Personal Achievement 

Text : Matt. 25 :9 — "But the wise answered, saying : 
'Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you; go 
ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.' ' ; 

In this parable of the wise and foolish virgins, Jesus 
gives a dramatic story of an eastern wedding, with its sud- 
den midnight cry, its sense of surprise, its shut door of 
opportunity. He vividly describes the bitter grief and the 
deep disappointment of those who had professed and long 
appeared to be His friends, now encountering the closed 
door and the solemn voice of refusal. He thus forcefully 
points out the supreme necessity of preparing for all moral 
crises. What Jesus tells to the ear by this impressive story, 
the sculptor Renaldi shows to the eye in his famous statue, 
"The Moment, One and Infinite." It is the moment of a 
great moral crisis. Browning calls it "the tick of one's life- 
time." We stand amazed when we contemplate the power 
of critical moments to settle destinies of individuals and 
nations. This has been a favorite theme with the moralist 
and the student of human life. Such moments are turning 
points in human life and human history, and not infre- 
quently are big with consequences. Failure to measure up 
to such emergencies shuts doors that sometimes can never 
be opened again. Lord Tennyson was contemplating this 
tragic fact of life, as taught in the story of the virgins, 
when he applied it to Queen Guinevere in her effort to 
reopen a closed door : 

Late, late, so late ! and dark the night and chill ! 

Late, late, so late ! but we can enter still. 

"Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now!" 

No light had we ; for that we do repent ; 

And learning this, the bridegroom will relent. 

"Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now!" 

No light ; so late ! and dark the night and chill ; 

O let us in, that we may find the light ! 

"Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now!" 



96 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 



Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet? 
O let us in, though late, to kiss his feet ! 
"No, no; too late! ye cannot enter now." 

Life is serious because tragic. We know not when the 
clock may strike the hour in which a single act may decide 
the future and happiness, the success or failure, of a whole 
life. Some things are done in critical hours that cannot 
be undone, and leaving undone things that ought to be 
done, frequently incurs irretrievable and irreparable loss. 
The trite maxim, " Strike while the iron is hot/' is good 
advice if one strikes wisely. Strike at the opportune time. 
Do the right thing at the critical hour. It was a tremen- 
dously critical moment in the history of Rome when Julius 
Csesar, the pro-consul of Gaul, took the law in his own 
hands and daringly crossed the little River Rubicon. His 
own destiny and that of his country hung upon that one 
event. Hence, as men have read of this turning point of 
his history, they have made him exclaim : "The enemy 
awaits me; the opportunity invites; the die is cast." 

But for one's weal or woe, one's fortune or misfortune, 
to hinge on the action of a single hour, does not seem just ; 
indeed, it would not be just. All we have said is true only 
when rightly understood. Critical hours determine one's 
future only in the sense that they reveal one's character. 
They are the revelation of all that has gone before and of 
the character that has been formed in previous years. There- 
fore, the determining factors of life are not, after all, the 
crises, but rather is it true that the less striking and perhaps 
unobserved moments and events of life decide one's fate 
and fortune forever. The critical moment in the life of 
the foolish virgin, as seen in the parable, did not change 
her condition, but only revealed it. The sudden midnight 
cry, "Behold the bridegroom !" took nothing from her and 
decided nothing for her, except what was already decided 
by her previous life, but it did bring out in bold relief 
the awful fact that she had nothing — no oil, no character ! 
Her previous life had made this moment and this revela- 



Sermons 97 

tion inevitable. She followed the wrong path, and as a 
matter of course reached the wrong destination. How hard 
it is for us to realize, beyond all doubt, the simple truth 
that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap ! 

In times of peace we prepare for war. In ordinary 
and normal life we prepare to meet extraordinary and ab- 
normal times. The tree will stand the test of the storm, 
provided in former and calmer days it has struck its 
roots deeply into the soil and thus gained strength for the 
testing time. To the thoughtless and careless the critical 
hour may seem harsh in its dealing with men, but it is 
never unjust. It never makes nor unmakes any man ; it 
only reveals what the man has been making himself during 
his previous years. This is what Wellington meant when 
he said that the battle of Waterloo was won on the cricket 
field at Eton. It is an inescapable law of the moral and 
spiritual world that the unworthy are by their own act 
excluded from the highest achievements when life's greatest 
moments come. Some one has wisely said : "Man's whole 
life and training is just to fit him to do the right thing 
at the critical moment. He who fails at this juncture fails 
not because he, by mere accident, took the wrong path or 
made a bad guess, or lost his stake; he fails because he 
has not so ordered his previous life that he might instinct- 
ively do the right thing at a push." The apparently good 
man falls with a crash, and his friends are amazed that such 
a man should fall before the forces of evil. But if all the 
facts of the case were known, they would perhaps see that 
secretly the foundation has been slipping away for a long 
time, and the collapse made inevitable by his previous life. 
Another man makes a powerful stroke and suddenly be- 
comes a hero, but the energy and force for the hour have 
been accumulating for many years. Man's whole life and 
training is just to fit him, or unfit him, to do the right thing 
at the critical moment. The well-ordered life instinctively 
takes the right course at the right time. 

But the great and impressive point of the story of the 
virgins — the point that our peerless Teacher would write 



98 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

indelibly upon our souls — is that character is a personal 
achievement and is by no means transferable. Immanuel 
Kant, when discussing the metaphysics of morality, gave 
expression to a world of truth when he said: "Nothing 
in the world, or even outside of the world, can possibly 
be regarded as good without limitation except a good will." 
Kant, furthermore, rightly identifies will with what we call 
character. And just as the directing will of any given 
individual is personal and untransferable, so it is with 
his character. We may give others our money, our sym- 
pathy, our love, and a thousand other things, but in no 
way can we transfer our character to other persons. This 
is one of man's possessions that must always and every- 
where be personally acquired. We may help the unfortu- 
nate and fallen to reform; we may point men to a better 
life; we may urge the wicked and godless to correct their 
way ; but every step toward moral reform and a good char- 
acter must be made by the individual himself whose better- 
ment we seek. You cannot take of your character and 
confer any fractional part of it upon the characterless. 
Character is a jewel that cannot be had for love or money. 
It is not on the market. If you would have character, 
then, you must cultivate it for yourself in the garden of 
your own heart. Because the virgin thought she might 
draw on the resources of her sister, Jesus calls her foolish. 
I do not doubt but that the wise virgin desired to help her 
foolish sister, but it was impossible to grant the request, 
"Give us of your oil." Renaldi's beautiful group, which has 
been already referred to, represents the foolish virgin mak- 
ing a pathetic entreaty for a part of the good supply of 
oil possessed by the wise virgin, while the latter lifts her 
hand as if to guard her treasure, and has upon her face a 
look of deep sadness as she refuses her sister's request. 

A New England essayist, commenting on this scene, 
said, "She should have given her the oil." So would you 
and I say, did we not remember that in both the parable 
and the statue the subject is character, and character is 
not transferable. We may work for others, think for others, 



Sermons 99 

and pray for others, but we cannot be good for others. 
If, then, you would possess this pearl of great price — a 
character, pure and beautiful — you must obtain it by your 
own seeking and by your own endeavor. It is not the 
gift of heredity, nor of environment, nor of both combined, 
but it is the flower that can grow and blossom only within 
the sacred precincts of the individual soul. When it blos- 
soms in beauty and loveliness, it sheds its fragrance every- 
where, yet its seat of empire is within, and not without. 
Hence, we are told, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for 
out of it are the issues of life." But I have not told you 
the whole truth, and lest I should be misunderstood and 
you go away depressed instead of encouraged, I must try 
to make plain the further fact that while the good man 
cannot give you of his oil, he can, in many ways, help you 
to get oil for yourself. Therefore, while character is solely 
and supremely a personal achievement, you need not wage 
the fight against the forces of evil simply in your own 
strength and all alone ; for good men everywhere extend a 
helping hand and offer you their prayers, their sympathy, 
and their co-operation in the noble endeavor to move on^ 
ward and upward into the divine likeness. We move for- 
ward with more stately tread and with greater hope of 
victory when we move together. Co-operation is as replete 
with significance in the moral as in the commercial or po- 
litical world. And as one who has faith in mankind, I am 
glad to be able to vouchsafe to every earnest, struggling 
soul the most cordial co-operation of those who stand for 
the best in life and who aspire to rise above all that is 
unworthy of the noblest and truest man. No, you need not 
stand alone. A mighty host, who themselves are bearing 
arms in the mighty combat with evil, invite you to stand 
firmly and bravely with them in their united endeavor to 
gain supremacy over all of earth's satanic powers. This 
is an engagement of tremendous magnitude, and you can 
no more afford to stand aloof from the best influences and 
forces of life than you can afford to be crushed to earth 
and destroyed forever by agents of evil and soulless vam- 



100 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

pires. But you do not have to stand alone. All who are 
worthy of your respectful consideration will help you in 
the task of shaping your life and moulding your character 
after the highest ideal. And, better still, you will receive 
help from our good, compassionate heavenly Father, who 
"resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." In 
the dying words of our great teacher, President Harper, 
of the University of Chicago, we have this noble testimony : 
"God helps, God always helps." Would that these words 
might be emblazoned in large letters across the sky, so 
that whoever looks upward from earth's sins and sorrows 
might learn that in our search for goodness and for God, 
we might hear, "God helps, God always helps." God speed 
you on and give you victory. 



Sermons 1 1 



True Greatness as Shown in the Life of Jesus 

Text: Matthew 12 :42— " Behold, a Greater than Solo- 
mon is Here." 

Every one who thinks at all has some standard of 
greatness, and by that standard seeks more or less con- 
sciously to fashion his own life. The higher the standard, 
the better the life. How unfortunate that so many of our 
capable young people are satisfied with low ideals. In our 
great universities there can be found hundreds of young 
men whose hero is the college athlete and whose highest 
ambition is to excel in muscular strength and physical en- 
durance. Others, however, find their ideal in the success- 
ful student, and their ambition is to be scholarly, cultured, 
and well equipped for life's arduous duties and important 
responsibilities. In nearly every walk of life there are 
found those whose recognized standard of greatness con- 
sists of making the most elaborate display of material pos- 
sessions. These always vote the richest man the greatest, 
for they estimate a man's worth to the world by what he 
has rather than what he is. In the minds of others the 
consummation of all greatness is to pass freely as a "society" 
man or woman, and hence they lend every energy to this 
one end, thinking they will have reached the pinnacle of 
all human glory and human achievement when once they 
can look down from their lofty height upon earth's common 
hordes who are weak-minded enough to give some atten- 
tion to other things. But, fortunately for the human race, 
those who possess these low ideals are not the controlling 
factors in making human history and in fixing human 
destinies, for the predominating influences of today emanate 
from better hearts and saner minds. Men who move the 
world in its upward progress are those whose standard 
of greatness is based on moral worth. He who has some- 
thing with which to ennoble human life is welcomed by 
the worthy and pronounced great by those who are capable 
of judging. The man who is universally accounted the 
world's greatest benefactor possessed absolutely nothing but 



102 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

moral and spiritual worth. "The foxes have holes and the 
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not 
where to lay his head." And yet the human race knows 
no one that could be brought even afar off into comparison 
with Jesus, and it was He who taught us, saying, "Let 
him who would become great among you become servant 
of all." 

If human greatness is to be measured by personal 
service and moral worth, then we go wrong when we con- 
dition one's greatness on parentage. The parents of Jesus 
are known to us only because of the greatness of their 
Son. It is not just to ostracize any child because of the 
sins of his parents ; neither is it fair to discriminate in 
favor of the well-born. Let every one stand or fall on 
his own merits. Many a criminal has been shielded from 
the punishment of the law simply because he belonged to a 
good family, while if his people had been unknown he 
would have received punishment to the full extent of the 
law. Our false standards of life license certain classes 
to revel in criminality with impunity. But we are fast 
approaching the day when we shall not feel ready to esti- 
mate the worth of a given individual when we have care- 
fully sought out the history of his ancestors, for we have 
already learned that some of the most worthless wretches 
that tread the earth are sons and daughters of noble parents. 
We know, too, that history's greatest names have sprung 
into fame regardless of ancestry. People, like trees, do 
not start great, but grow great. True greatness belongs 
to the soul that presses to the front independently of mere 
circumstance. Time was when worthless souls could sub- 
sist on their family names, but conditions have changed, 
and he who leans today upon the ancestral tree and waits 
in ease and slothfulness for fame and fortune, will inevitably 
receive his just reward. 

Furthermore, Jesus was unmoved by outward trap- 
pings which the world loves to worship. His was an humble 
entrance into the world, not marked by pomp and splendor 
such as earthly kings rejoiced in. No room in the inn, 



Sermons 1 03 

He rests in the manger and is worshiped there. May the 
time hasten when our judgments shall be just, our ideals 
true, our valuations fair, for then, and only then, shall 
we recognize true greatness wherever it may exist, and 
be prepared to give honor to whom honor is due. Well 
do you know, my friends, that many a great soul today is 
hid under tattered and torn garments. Many of you who 
hear me today may not discover their virtues, but God 
knows their worth and makes them His own. You re- 
member the poet's song: 

"Full many a gem of purest ray serene 

The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear ; 

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 

And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

As a few little clouds may hide from our vision the bright- 
ness and beauty of the midnight stars, so it may happen 
that an inexpensive robe may hide from the world's view 
that beautiful and stately soul whom to know is to wonder 
that so much loveliness and worth could take on mortal 
shape. He who measures greatness and worth by outward 
show and material things proves his own soul to be blind 
and covetous, and thereby reveals a littleness that ought 
to be despised and a meanness of thought that mars the 
beauty and blights the flower of our civilization. No one 
advocates more emphatically than I the sacred obligation 
of every one to make faithful and honest endeavor to pro- 
vide well for temporal needs, but I do say that he who 
becomes a miser and gathers and uses wealth for selfish 
ends, whether that wealth assume the form of money or 
of mental training and intellectual culture, becomes an 
object to be despised and spurned and cursed. What the 
world most needs today is not money to buy bread, but a 
powerful moral and spiritual uplift to make better men 
and women. When our characters become conformed to 
the Divine likeness, the world will not cry for bread nor 
shiver in the cold. If He who made the greatest gift and 



104 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

did most for the betterment of mankind had not where to 
lay His head, then our usefulness in the world is not 
conditioned on material things, but rather on greatness 
of soul and beauty of character. You yourselves may know 
of men who possess thousands in silver and gold, while 
in reality they are not worth to the! world their room in 
the pauper's cemetery. Material wealth is a great blessing 
when wisely used, but even then it is not the only blessing 
worthy of our honest seeking. Poverty is no virtue and 
is no guarantee of a passport to glory, and surely no one 
could be foolish enough to advocate poverty for poverty's 
sake. My only contention is that neither poverty nor wealth 
conditions one's usefulness to the world, nor is either a 
just basis on which to estimate one's true worth to mankind. 
Jesus' worth lay in His moral and spiritual worth, His 
inner life, His character, and out of this sprang His deeds 
of universal and lasting blessing. He was great in moral 
courage. He dared to do His duty, to speak the truth, 
commending the right, condemning the wrong. Although 
the path of duty and truth led by way of Gethsemane and 
Calvary, He nevertheless walked it with stately tread and 
unfaltering courage. From His baptism to His death He 
never once courted the favor of evil or proved recreant 
in the face of duty. What man among you can compromise 
with sin without losing self-respect ? The consciousness 
of manhood must be maintained at all hazards, and you 
who cavil at the truth and tamper with moral values will 
soon count yourselves moral imbeciles and spiritual para- 
sites. 

The highest type of courage is moral courage. Many 
a man who would stake his life in deadly combat in defense 
of home and country would prove a coward in a moral 
crisis. Many a man who would give his life for his 
country's liberty would not lift his hand to free his native 
land and protect his home from the curse of vice and the 
enslaving forces of evil. Our need today is not physical 
courage to keep the other man from encroaching upon our 
rights. We are abundantly blessed with that. We need 



lermons 



105 



rather that courage which will impel us always to stand 
for the right and to do the right, a courage which will 
inspire us to welcome righteousness and truth in every 
vocation of life. The business man who will deliberately 
lie to make a dollar will sell his character for the same 
price. He may prize ever so much his reputation, but he 
has no regard for his character. You put a price upon 
your own soul when you decide to do wrong for material 
gain. The world needs more men of stalwart character 
and great moral courage. Jefferson Davis saved the day 
at Buena Vista as his clarion voice rang out above the din 
of battle: "Steady, Mississippians, steady. Cowards to 
the rear, but brave men to the front !" In the struggle for 
moral achievement and moral victories let the cry go forth 
in thundering tones, "Cowards to the rear, but brave men 
to the front." 

Another element in the greatness of Jesus' moral and 
spiritual life lay in the fact that He saw things in their 
true relation, knew how to value each, and therefore made 
the kingdom of God first all the time. He knew the value 
of things temporal, and the value of things eternal. The 
relative value of each He states in the solemn question, 
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world 
and lose his own soul ?" This is an infinite valuation placed 
upon the human life or soul. The fatal error of many 
lies in the fact that they put the emphasis, the supreme 
valuation, on the wrong side of life. When I assert that 
things of eternal worth ought to be seriously considered 
by every thoughtful person, I am not dealing with pious 
platitudes and statements that ought to be made by the 
minister just as a "matter of course. I mean that sooner 
or later you will be compelled to face this question, and 
far better that you begin right and act today the part of 
a sensible man. It is hard to understand why an intelligent 
being will struggle almost day and night for the accumu- 
lation of things which must pass away in a few fleeting 
days, and give scarcely a thought to the building of char- 
acter and the culture of the soul — possessions that abide 



106 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

when all things temporal have passed from us forever. 
May God give us true valuations, high ideals and eternal 
possessions. 

Notice also that Jesus trusted God fully and was in 
perfect harmony with the Divine plan. If we understand 
God's purpose regarding the human race, it is to lead men 
into that same perfection of manhood and self-mastery 
which was so clearly manifested in the person of Jesus. 
To be great, we must fall in line with this plan and make 
our contribution, be it ever so small, to the betterment of 
mankind. Harmony with the Divine will and co-operation 
in the Divine plan is the keynote to the truest and highest 
success. This requires you to become the servant of all, 
but it is the highest service man is capable of rendering. 
By giving yourselves diligently to this most royal task, you 
will save the life that now is and the life that is to come. 
Its requirements are great, but its rewards are greater. 

Through His true life and heroic death, Jesus has 
become the world's greatest benefactor. He has become 
the King of countless lives, and 'is fast forging His way 
from the manger in Bethlehem to universal dominion when 
He shall be crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 
If you would be great, follow Hint through sacrifice and 
service, and He will bring you at last to share His triumph 
and His glory. 



Sermons 1 07 



Faith Alone Can Bring Knowledge of the Almighty 



Text: John 14:9— "Have I been so long time with 
you, and dost thou not know me, Philip?" 

Philip's request, "Lord, show us the Father and it 
sufficeth us," was evoked by Jesus' words, "From hence- 
forth ye know him and have seen him." 

That Jesus was the revelation of the Father, was the 
one foremost truth of His life. The consciousness of this 
fact had grown with His growth, and it had been the one 
proclamation of His ministry. So intense and so vivid 
was this truth to Him that He thought the blind and deaf 
in heart might see and hear it. And now one of his 
hearers asks a question which suddenly makes Him feel 
that what is to him as clear and bright as the sun in 
heaven is not perceived at all. What wonder, then, that 
we hear in His question a note of sorrowful surprise, "Have 
I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, 
Philip?" Philip desired some physical manifestation of 
the Divine glory, so that every doubt might be forever ex- 
pelled. He sought some such scene as the transfiguration 
on the mount, when before Peter, James and John, our 
Lord robed Himself in splendor, his raiment bright as 
the light, and His face shining as the sun. But Jesus 
thought His disciples might discover His significance with- 
out any such extraordinary experience, so He declares, "He 
that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Philip had en- 
joyed splendid opportunities for finding in Christ the revela- 
tion of God ; otherwise Jesus could not have propounded 
this question of sorrowful surprise. Philip's association 
with Jesus was enough to lead the Divine Teacher to expect 
more of His disciple. On many occasions it had doubtless 
been his privilege to witness the transforming and magic 
touch of Jesus as a miracle-worker. At His command, souls 
were released from the dominion of demons, disease gave 
place to health, and cold death yielded to the warm pulsa- 
tions of full and vigorous life. This wonder-worker was 



108 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

also the most profound and heart-searching Teacher known 
to human history. It was no mean privilege to sit at His 
feet and feast the soul on such words as fell from His lips. 
They were words sweeter than honey, radiant] with light 
and instinct with life. The world knows no one whose 
grasp of truth and comprehension of life can be brought 
even afar off in comparison with Jesus. The Greeks were 
acknowledged masters in art, literature and philosophy. 
The whole of philosophy is virtually contained in the works 
of four or five Greek authors. Other men have explained 
and illustrated, but have added next to nothing. Emerson 
says that only a very few people are capable of understand- 
ing Plato. Yet, when brought into comparison with Jesus, 
the greatness of such sages and philosophers as Socrates, 
Plato and Aristotle grows dim, like stars before the bright- 
ness of the sun. Jesus was like one standing on a high 
peak, reporting of the sunrise to men in the dark valley. 
They heard His words, but they saw also upon His counte- 
nance the glow of dawn, and dazzling all about Him the 
incommunicable splendors of a new day. He was and 
still is the Light of the World, and to Him the wisest turn 
for guidance in solving the problems of life. 

And we must remember, too, that Jesus was not only 
Teacher, but Saviour as well. For, after all, the greatest 
need of mankind is not for more light, but for more power; 
not for knowledge to discern between good and evil, but 
for deliverance from sin. Jesus not only teaches the right 
way, but gives grace to walk therein. Human nature needs 
something more than enlightenment; the illumination of 
the horrible pit is not enough to effect a rescue. Buddha 
and Socrates could reveal the distressed condition of hu- 
manity, but they could not stretch out the arm which alone 
could bring Satan's victim out and set him upon the rock. 
Jesus not only gives a correct philosophy of life, but, what 
is more important, He gives life itself. The soul dead in 
trespasses and sin has its sorest need unsatisfied until it 
has received the vitalizing touch of Him whose greatest 
title is " Savior of the World." Such was the Man with 



>ermons 



109 



whom Philip had communed in the quiet of the day and 
stillness of the night. 

After all this, why did not Philip know Jesus? The 
explanation is probably found in the fact that the light was 
shut out by preconceived ideas regarding the Messiah. The 
shutters of the windows of his soul were closed — the dark- 
ness shut in, the light shut out. If we would find the real 
Christ, and in Him the revelation of God, we must ap- 
proach Him without the blinding trammels of preconceived 
and warped ideas. 

To know God is to have eternal life. Then let us 
consider for a moment the important question as to how 
we may know Him. If I may first answer negatively, I 
would say that this knowledge of God, which issues in 
eternal life, is not to be found in the study of Nature. To 
be sure, God is in His world, and he who already knows 
Him may find Him everywhere. 

Every blooming flower, every rippling stream, every 
twinkling star, tells us that God is in His world, but it 
is only the believing heart that can interpret Nature's mes- 
sage and read in her beauty and perfection the glory of the 
Almighty. It is not the eye of the astronomer, but the eye 
of faith that sees God through the telescope. Our dis- 
covery of God is not made by aesthetic, geological or as- 
tronomical research, but after we have found Him some 
other where, all nature proclaims His presence and His 
praise — the stars "singing as they shine the hand that 
made us is divine." 

And what we say of nature is true of all science. 
You cannot make your chemical analysis and say, "There- 
fore God is." No science can ever say, "I have found 
beyond all question the living God," for religious certitude 
is not the product of scientific investigation. It is the fruit 
of another field, the flower of another garden. Yet every 
law of science is the law of God, and God is in all true 
science as verily as He is in all true religion. Therefore, 
science could not be despised. It is only the dilettante who 
fears that science will take away his Lord. Such knowledge 



110 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

can neither give nor take away the God whom to know 
aright is life eternal. 

We may go a step further and say that God is not 
found solely in the words of eternal truth. You may read 
the Scriptures all your life and listen attentively to a thou- 
sand Gospel sermons, and then not know Him. Had not 
Philip sat at the Master's feet and heard such words as 
mortal lips never before had uttered? And still Jesus says 
to him, "Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou 
not know me?" That God was in the ministry of His Son, 
no one of us would doubt; but we may hear wonderful 
words of life and witness deeds of mighty power, and not 
be brought thereby into a holy fellowship with God. We 
cannot know Him simply through these things. The beau- 
ties of nature are aesthetic — we admire. Science is intel- 
lectualistic — we reason. Miracle is wonderful — we stand 
amazed. But we may admire, we may reason, and we 
may stand in awe before the deepest mysteries of God, 
without ever being able to feel and to exclaim with the 
great Augustine, "Oh, God ! Our souls are made for 
Thee, and our hearts will be restless until they rest in 
Thee." 

What we want is God, and my contention is that a 
revelation of Him can be appropriated only through re- 
ligious faith. We do not need so much a theory about 
God, but communion with Him — our heart meeting with 
His heart, our wills lost in His will. We seek not a 
sovereign seated far away upon a distant throne, surveying 
with majesty the subjects of his rule, but we seek Him 
who is nearer to us than our own breathing; whose throne 
is the human heart, and in whom we live and move and 
have our being. To know Him is not to have a well-form- 
ulated, logical theory about Him, but to be in conscious 
communion with Him as the Lord of your life. This, it 
seems to me, is effected by two steps. First, by being 
associated with Jesus, who is the supreme revelation of 
God ; and, secondly, by surrendering your whole life to the 
Lordship of the Redeemer. We associate with Jesus by 



Sermons 1 1 1 



following Him in His life and ministry as portrayed in the 
Gospel stories. We listen to His words, we behold His 
deeds, and we are swayed by His powerful personality. 
When brought close to Him, we confess with Thomas, 
"My Lord and my God." The inner spirit of Christ masters 
us and calls out our confident faith and our eager submis- 
sion. But this association is effected also, and perhaps 
more largely, by contact with true Christians who reflect 
and reproduce in their life the life of Jesus. Many a time 
have you been in the presence of some sainted soul in whom 
you recognized a ruling power that you yourself did not 
possess. He who lives a distorted life cannot thus influence 
you, but the man who is true to the principles of the 
Christian religion, and who allows the spirit of Christ to 
be the ruling passion of his soul, does bring Christ before 
you in such a light that you must see Him, whether you wish 
to or not. Divine revelation appeals to the will of man, 
and God is found only when the will surrenders to that 
revelation. This surrendering and yielding of one's self 
to the will of God is the exercise of that Christian faith 
which brings to the soul of man a vivid and blessed con- 
sciousness of God, and establishes between the soul and 
the Infinite a divine fellowship. He seeks in vain who 
seeks to know God independently of doing His will ; but 
he who seeks aright will surely find, and, in his finding, 
will be blessed forevermore. ''Behold, I stand at the door 
and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, 
1 will come in and sup with him and he with me." 



112 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

Public Opinion 

Text, Matthew 11 :18, 19: "For John came neither eat- 
ing nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon. The Son 
of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a 
gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and 
sinners." 

When John the Baptist appeared to Israel and made his 
voice heard from the wilderness, the stern reality of his life 
struck all imaginations. His proclamation of a Deliverer 
who should at once subdue all hearts and lift off the weight 
of sin, stirred men with the hope of peace, and all classes 
streamed into the desert to hear his message. But only a 
few remained ; the rest streamed back again, untouched 
and unmoved by the fiery words of the fearless prophet, 
who, conscious of his unique mission, was unsparing in his 
denunciation of sin. 

The voice of John rang out the old and rang in the new. 
He stood upon the line that divided two great religious 
epochs. Israel had waited long for their deliverer, and now, 
at last, this greatest of the prophets points to the long- 
looked-for Messiah, the Galilean stranger, and says, "Be- 
hold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
world." You would suppose that never since the flaming 
sword of the sentinel angel guarded entrance to the forbid- 
den Eden, did men so overflow with joy and strike such full 
notes of praise. But how different in reality ! Instead of 
hailing their king with shouts of hosannas, they begin to 
point out petty faults. They say John must be deranged! 
They reject his witness to Jesus and ridicule his mode of 
life, declaring him to be possessed of a demon, because he 
came neither eating nor drinking. On the other hand, Jesus 
lived among men, eating and drinking as they did. He 
went to the homes of Pharisee and publican, of scrupulous 
observers of the law and open transgressors of it, and shared 
their customary food and drink, and immediately they cried, 
"Behold a gluttonous man, a winebibber, a friend of publi- 
cans and sinners." Because he ate pleasant food like others, 



Sermons 1 1 3 



with no special abstemiousness, they called him a glutton. 
Because he sometimes drank wine as others did, he was a 
winebibber. Because he treated bad men with civility and 
kindness, earnestly seeking to do them good, he himself 
also was bad. So they talked. John was not enough like 
other people — a crazy sort of a man. Jesus was too much 
like other people. Poor souls ; nothing could please them. 

Public opinion, in this instance, was glaringly inconsist- 
ent and grossly unjust. It was based on externals, such as 
food and dress, and therefore was a very superficial thing. 
There was pure gold beneath the surface, but the multitudes 
were too stupid and self-satisfied to give more than a casual 
glance. They were, like many of today, in a frame of 
mind to strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, and this they 
did without ever suspecting that any blame could thereby 
be laid at their own door. Little did they dream they were 
condemning a man who in after years would be called the 
world's chief friend and benefactor, and who would 
receive, after they themselves were long forgotten, the 
highest tributes of praise the human heart is capable of 
bestowing. Many a great soul has espoused the cause of 
truth, only to meet with persecutions and finally death at 
the hands of his own generation, and wait for other times 
to justify his stand and other hearts to sing his praise. But 
"wisdom is justified by her works," and though public 
approval is sometimes centuries behind heroes and martyrs, 
yet the hour of vindication comes and truth triumphs in 
the end. 

On February 17, 1900, Rome witnessed a concourse of 
men such as the great city on the Tiber has rarely ever 
seen. But this time the crowd had not gathered to greet 
a triumphant Caesar at the head of his victorious legions, 
for they came from the ends of the earth to unveil a monu- 
ment in memory of a poor wandering knight of the spirit 
who three centuries before on the same spot, had closed 
his tumultuous and checkered life on a pile of faggots. And 
why did this man, Giordano Bruno, suffer martyrdom at 
the hands of his countrymen? Because he lived three hun- 



114 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

dred years in advance of the multitudes and taught the 
modern conception of the boundlessness of the world. It 
was eminently fitting that the nineteenth century, just be- 
fore closing its doors, should think that it must pay this 
man a homage so pure and so enthusiastic. There was 
prophecy as well as courage in the bold words Bruno flung 
in the face of his judges, "You pronounce the sentence with 
greater fear than I receive it, perhaps." But after all, such 
bravery is not so rare; it fills the breasts of countless men 
and women whose crosses and pyres the history of the 
world passes by without even naming their names. 

Men fall into two great classes, the fossilized and the 
progressive, and between these two classes the conflict rages. 
New ideas are costly things to cherish and espouse, for they 
require sacrifice and suffering. To champion the new means 
a battle with those who are intrenched in the old ideas, and 
whose varied interests are bound up in them. It means 
enemies who are heartless and cruel — enemies who confess 
great devotion to the Christ who was crucified by the same 
spirit they manifest, because he dared to introduce revolu- 
tionary ideas into the world. Everyone knows how Galileo 
was treated by devout ecclesiastics of his day, whose minds 
were fixed in error's chains and shut against the light. But 
this is the story of all human advance in all ages. Today 
the progressive man is not tied to the stake and his body 
burned to ashes., for the civil law does not allow that, but 
what is even worse, he is persecuted, villified and hounded 
to a slow and agonizing death. Those who proclaim loudest, 
"Give us religious liberty or give us death," are frequently 
among the first to stab the heart of a brother whose theo- 
logical opinions do not exactly coincide with their own. One 
example out of many that might be cited will suffice. In 

1902, Professor made some unusual assertions about 

miracles, and immediately his beloved brethren were literally 
up in arms. The papers gave extensive accounts of the 
meeting, in which one of the oldest saints in the Rock River 
conference, gave vent to the severest vituperation and the 
most fiery denunciation of his straying brother. With one 



Dermons 



115 



hand uplifted and a voice trembling with emotion the patri- 
arch minister passionately arraigned the brother of his faith, 
and forgetting the grace that forgave his own sins, ex- 
claimed, "He ought to be skinned and his hide hung upon 
the barn door and salted." This is but the rage of the 
unthinking multitudes who have kindled the fires through 
which heroes and martyrs have had to pass in order to lead 
humanity onward and upward towards the boons of free- 
dom, light and life. 

Public opinion is vacillating and hence not a safe guide 
for the seeker after truth. Nearly all advance in religious 
knowledge, from the days of the first prophets of Israel 
to the time of modern biblical criticism, has been made 
through the crosses and fires of heartless persecution. Had 
moral and religious reformers guided their endeavors by the 
pulse of public sentiment, we would have simply marked 
time, with practically no progress, through all these cen- 
turies. But, thank God, men were brave enough to die for 
their convictions and let their death stand as the harbinger 
of better days. Heroes have been willing to perform their 
tasks in the light of their own conscience and wait for future 
generations to rise up and call them blessed. Men of tower- 
ing strength and great moral courage have stemmed the 
tide of adverse public opinion, remembering that the multi- 
tudes will praise you today and tomorrow clamor for your 
death. No one knew the vacillation of the public mind 
better than the Man of Nazareth. Today they cry, "Behold, 
a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans 
and sinners," and tomorrow they come to him from every 
quarter to receive the blessings of his ministry. Now they 
hang upon his words and seem to appropriate his message, 
but soon he offends some over-scrupulous Pharisee and they 
seek to stone him to death. Now he rides into Jerusalem, 
the Holy City, amid shouts of hosannas and long live the 
King ; but a few days later the same enthusiastic mob cried 
aloud, "Away with him! Crucify him!" And they led him 
away to a little hill, lone and gray, and there they crucified 
him of whom the great historian Rauke, said : "More guilt- 



116 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

less and more powerful, more exalted and more holy has 
naught ever been on earth than his conduct, his life and his 
death." No wonder, then, that this man, who knew human 
nature as no other man knew it, said to his disciples: "Be- 
hold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves ; be 
ye therefore as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But 
beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, 
and in their synagogues they will scourge you; yea and 
before governors and kings shall ye be brought for my sake, 
for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles." 

But I would not have you brethren think me a pessimist 
with no faith in human kind. On the contrary, I believe 
in the ultimate integrity of the human race, and I believe 
that when men and women are brought to see the truth and 
feel their obligation, they will take up their tasks with hearts 
brave and true. Therefore, public opinion is always tre- 
mendously powerful for good, when in the right. Great 
reforms are wrought at the command of public sentiment. 
To-day many men in high places, who are vested with 
authority, dare to lift their hand in enforcement of law 
and in defense of righteousness. One of the most propitious 
signs of the times is the recent and present crusades against 
public graft and unholy impositions upon the people, along 
with the facts that the men leading in these reforms have 
the approval and backing of the general public. A better 
day is coming. The people are going to rise up in their 
sovereignty and demand that justice, truth and righteous- 
ness be enthroned to do their perfect work. This day will 
not come, however, until the public mind is still better edu- 
cated and trained on these vital issues. Therefore it behooves 
every right thinking man and woman, every educational in- 
stitution, the public press and the pulpit to bend every energy 
to enlist the sympathy and support of the masses in stamping 
out crime and ushering in a better day. 

But however powerful public sentiment may be, it can- 
not eventually triumph over truth. 

"Truth crushed to earth will rise again, 
Th' eternal years of God are hers." 



>ermons 



117 



John the Baptist suffered a ghastly death at the hands 
of a cruel foe, but the truth he proclaimed still lives and 
moves on to final victory. Jesus was taken by the midnight 
mob, tried, condemned and crucified by those who made an 
impious tool of law and a mockery of justice, nevertheless 
his kingdom moves on to universal dominion with the state- 
liness and majesty of the sun in his unhindered journey 
across the sky. All the combined forces of persecution and 
instruments of torture could not put out the light that 
emanates from the life of Socrates. Cicero paid him a 
just tribute when he said, "Socrates called philosophy down 
from the heavens to earth, and introduced it into the cities 
and houses of men, compelling men to inquire concerning 
life and morals and things good and evil." Nevertheless his 
countrymen thought him better dead than alive. He drank 
the cup of poison in his prison, surrounded by his disciples 
and friends, with perfect steadfastness and tranquility of 
soul, full of assurance that the death which was to attest 
his fidelity to his convictions would be most advantageous 
for him and his work. 

Truth is eternal. This is the ultimate ground of our 
optimism. The right will prevail, because God lives and 
rules. In the beginning of his ministry Jesus faced three 
great discouragements, the doubting of John, adverse public 
opinion, and the hardness of the cities ; but in spite of it 
all he was still optimistic, and said : "I thank thee, O Father, 
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things 
from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them 
unto babes." So let us look up and hope, believe and pray, 
until the day dawns and the light of eternal glory floods 
our souls. 



118 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

A Plea for a Larger Place for the Church 
in Our Hearts 

Text, Jeremiah 51 :50 : "Remember Jehovah from afar, 
and let Jerusalem come into your mind." 

Subject: "A Plea for a Larger Place for the Church in 
Our Hearts." 

"Jeremiah stood at the threshold of the Babylonian cap- 
tivity, and sounded in unmistakable terms the warning to 
his fellowmen. He saw that unless a thorough repentance 
came over the Israelites, and that very soon, the nation must 
fall, and Jersualem must be laid waste by the enemy. Israel 
must repent or suffer, and since there w T as scarcely any hope 
of repentance, suffering was practically inevitable. The aged 
prophet studies the situation, sees with prophetic vision the 
holy city made desolate, and his brethren pining under the 
torturing yoke of heathen rule. He looks still further and 
sees that spoilers shall come from the north, and that Baby- 
lon herself shall fall. It is then that he makes this strong 
and pathetic appeal to his brethren : "Ye that have escaped 
the sword, go ye, stand not still ; remember Jehovah from 
afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind." Though 
far away, remember your own native land, which you "have 
loved and lost awhile." In the midst of false and strange 
gods, remember the God of Israel, in the midst of heathen 
cities in which men serve images made by their own hands, 
remember Jerusalem, the holy city, where you have so often 
met and worshipped the God of Jacob. 

Jerusalem was to the faithful Jew what the Church of 
Christ is to the Christian. Therefore, Jeremiah's appeal to 
his brethren can be echoed as an appeal to every true fol- 
lower of Christ to let the church come into his mind and 
heart, and occupy therein her merited place. We purpose 
to make this plea by setting forth, first, the real value of 
the church; and, secondly, by showing the just claims she 
has upon men. 

By "the church" we mean, in this discourse, the great 



Sermons 1 1 9 

brotherhood of believers in Christ. The value of this brother- 
hood is shown in part by the incalculable cost of our re- 
demption. The church is not the product of human 
scheming and sacrifice ; it does not represent a certain ex- 
penditure of money, nor does it represent only a certain 
number of years of human toil and suffering, the value of 
which might be computed, if only we had the data upon 
which to base the calculation. It is of divine origin, and 
the product of divine planning and divine execution. The 
execution of these plans involved the sufferings of a life 
of hardships, and the tortures of a humiliating and agoniz- 
ing death. Man's best and greatest Friend was scorned, 
spat upon, crowned and robed in mockery, nailed by ruth- 
less hands to the cruel tree, in order that we might be saved 
from our sins. No matter what may be your theory of 
the atonement, the facts of the awful tragedy remain as a 
testimony to the incalculable cost of the church of Jesus 
Christ. The Son of God did not die for naught. His death 
has a profound meaning, and until we can fathom the depth 
of these agonies and comprehend the boundless love of God, 
we shall stand in amazement before the ransom price of the 
church. 

The value of the church is further shown by the fact 
that for nearly twenty centuries she has had the faithful ser- 
vice of the truest and best of men. Just as on the gory bat- 
tle-field thousands of brave men have shown their loyalty 
and love for home and country, so at the burning stake, in 
positions of honor and of abasement, in riches and in pov- 
erty, in health and in sickness, in life and in death, men have 
shown undying loyalty to the cause of Christ. Many brave 
hearts have been pierced that a land of the noble and the 
free might become the heritage of sons and daughters. For 
this reason, if for no other, we would give our native land 
a large place in our hearts. The Kingdom of God has been 
purchased for us not only by the offering of the Spotless 
Lamb of God, as a sacrifice for our sins, but unnumbered 
loyal and noble lives have been sacrificed that truth might 



120 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

live, and the church of God become the blessed heritage 
of many generations. 

That the church is of inestimable value is demonstrated 
also by the fact that we who are followers of Christ and 
have received the "inheritance among all them that are 
sanctified," have been saved by her sacred influence and 
faithful labors. We owe our salvation to the church. The 
sacrificing love of Christian people, as they have been led 
and inspired by the Spirit of our Master, has led us to 
the divine Redeemer. Were it not for the church, to whose 
keeping have been committed the oracles of God, we should 
now be "without hope and without God in the world." 
She told us of our disease and pointed us to the remedy. 
She found us in darkness and led us into the light. 
She found us sorely oppressed by sin, and pointed us to 
the "Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." 

When we have grown into manhood we can appreciate 
the true value of father and mother; we can then see how 
tender the care and how many the labors they bestowed 
upon us in order to bring us up in the right way. We 
honor and value them for what they have done for us. 
So the church has brought us life, joy, peace — all the bless- 
ings that come through redeeming grace. God bless the 
church, which he has appointed to be the light of the 
world and the salt of the earth. 

The value of the church becomes even more apparent 
when we remember that through her the world is to be 
saved. What a tremendous mission ! If she is to be valued 
by this world-wide and vastly important mission, surely 
nothing else can be of half so much worth to the world. 
Thousands and millions of souls are lost, and must be 
brought to God through the instrumentality of Christian 
people. Philosophy, science, culture, riches, are all power- 
less in the presence of sin. The task of the church can be 
accomplished only by the church, and this work surpasses 
all else in importance. Consequently she merits a large 
place in every heart, and we should prize her above all 
else we possess. The millions of the lost, the vastness of 



Sermons 1 2 1 



the work, the awfulness of living and dying in sin, and the 
eternal verities of salvation through Christ, demand that 
we love the church and give her the best and chief place 
in our hearts. Therefore, my brethren, we plead with you, 
that in your homes and the rush of your business affairs, 
you remember the Lord our God, and let the church come 
into your mind. 

Let us notice, in the next place, that the church has 
certain just claims upon the people. It is evident that 
she has just claims upon the unsaved. No one in a Chri? 
tian country can deny that he is indebted to Christianity for 
many privileges and blessings enjoyed daily by all classes. 
No church is worthy of Christ that does not benefit the 
entire community in which it happens to be located. To 
a large extent it elevates the morals, preserves the peace, 
enhances the price of property, and makes life better in 
every way. Any one will surely concede that a good Chris- 
tian church is beneficial to the whole community, and 
therefore deserves the respect, the love and the support 
of every patriotic citizen of the community, whether he be 
identified with the brotherhood or not. This is a fact 
that needs to be emphasized and kept constantly before 
our minds, in order that all classes of men may come to 
give the church a larger place in their hearts. Every man 
should be willing to love his country, discharge the duties 
of citizenship, and comply with the just demands made 
upon him by his state and nation, because of the manifold 
benefits derived from citizenship therein. So when men 
are led to see the blessings derived from the benignant in- 
fluences of Christianity, they will doubtless be willing to 
respond to the obligations resting upon them with reference 
to the Christian church. 

The church, however, has especial claims upon those 
that have been saved. She justly demands of every Chris- 
tian that he shall keep clean her garments. No one has a 
right to wrap himself in the cloak of church membership 
and then allow this cloak to trail in the dust and dirt of the 
earth. When we voluntarily identify ourselves with Chris- 



122 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 



tian people, we owe it to God and to men to keep our church 
out of the low places that curse the land and wreck human 
life. We have no right to drag the church into saloons, 
into gambling dens, or into any place of questionable pro- 
priety. No loyal citizen should ever think of disgracing 
his country's flag, which is the symbol of his nation's glory 
and power. In like manner, hold high the Cross of Jesus, 
love the church, and guard well her name, her purity, her 
interests. Ungrateful is he who stoops to dishonor her 
name and impede her progress. Church membership is 
becoming a matter of too little significance, whereas it 
should have a profound meaning to everyone that possesses 
it. We need to learn that it is no trivial thing for one to 
be called a Christian. Membership in the Masonic order is 
appreciated, and certain it is that no true Mason would 
bring his lodge into disrepute by an act of disloyalty. 
Jesus Christ is the Grand Master of our Christian federa- 
tion, and he makes the reasonable demand upon his fol- 
lowers that they be pure in heart, loyal and true in service. 
That was a severe reproof of those that claimed to have 
the light — the reproof that says, "For the sons of this world 
are for their own generation wiser than the sons of the 
light." We cannot serve God and mammon, and having 
once made God our choice, let us keep pure and clean our 
life, and pray for Zion, "Peace be within thy walls, and 
prosperity within thy palaces." 

But the church rightfully asks of her members not only 
a pure life, but a life of service. No one thinks of enter- 
ing a secular fraternity without giving himself in service 
to that fraternity. He will stand in readiness to respond 
to any reasonable demand the order may make upon him. 
So when we come into the fold of the Good Shepherd, we 
should come with hearts willing to do the Master's bidding. 
The work of the church, as we have pointed out, is to save 
the human race from sin and lift it up into righteousness, 
and in order to accomplish this enormous task we must be 
unanimous in our readiness and united in our activity. The 
church justly claims your best service, and we beseech you 



sermons 



123 



in Christ's name to do what you can, whether it be much or 
little. 

''So tired; yet I would work 
For thee. Lord, hast thou work 

Even for me? 
Small things which others hurrying on, 
In thy blessed service, swift and strong, 

Might never see." 

The church claims our financial support. Many can 
give but little, but they should do what they can. The 
widow gave her two mites and won the commendation of 
her Lord. We should give because it is our duty to support 
the noblest work that ever engaged the attention and efforts 
of man. Upon you the Master of the harvest has laid the 
responsibility. 

I want just here to make an appeal for the church to be 
lifted from the low level of a tramping beggar, and given 
her rightful and dignified place of honor and power in the 
world. Jesus Christ, the divine head of the church, is no 
beggar, and yet we must confess with a blush of shame 
that the actions of some churches and church people would 
lead a stranger to feel that Christianity is a pauperized in- 
stitution. A Chinaman in San Francisco once asked, "Who 
is this Jesus that's all the time broke?" Well might a blush 
of shame crimson the cheeks of those who attempted, in 
their abject beggary, to present the cause of Christ to this 
foreigner. All things are Christ's. Before him the angels 
of heaven fall in praise and adoration, as they behold him 
exalted at the right hand of the Father's glory. He has 
seen fit to commit to his disciples the exalted task of evan- 
gelizing the world. It cannot be his will that we should 
pose as paupers and beg for pennies with which to keep 
alive his work upon the earth. As saved men and women, 
we are to face our duty bravely and lovingly, and give of 
our means to this most royal work. But if any of you 
should perchance feel that your church is a pauper eking 
out a bare living by begging bread, you need to throw off 



24 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 



your morbid lethargy, remember the power of God, and 
cry aloud, "Awake, O Zion, put on thy strength." The 
church of God is not a thing to be despised by any class 
of people, for she wields the greatest power on earth, and 
stands as a thing of strength, of beauty, and of glory, 
deserving the highest admiration of all. When we behold 
her, marching from victory to victory, we can only magnify 
her matchless prowess, and glory in her conquering Lord. 
God pity that depraved soul who, in his remotest thought, 
would drag Zion and her ministry from her exalted and 
dignified place down to the despised level of mere beggary. 

Furthermore, you owe the church your earnest prayers. 
Every Christian should pray for the prosperity and final 
victory of the Kingdom of God. You should pray for 
your pastor before he comes to you with his message. When 
you give him to understand that you pray for him, he will 
preach with greater freedom and helpfulness. Pray for him, 
and you will find less in the sermon to criticise and more 
to praise. Pray also that the spiritually blind may receive 
their sight, and you will see more hearts bowing before the 
sovereign rule of our blessed Lord. 

Finally, the church has a just claim upon your heart's 
best affection. Ungrateful is the man who has no love 
for the church that led him into the Saviour's light. The 
devout Jew loved Jerusalem, his spiritual home, the place 
where he held sweetest communion with God, and where 
he found sweetest peace for his soul. The church is our 
spiritual home. She has often called us to prayer and to 
communion with God. The Jew had a custom of engraving 
upon the palm of his hand the image of the temple at 
Jerusalem. Let us engrave upon our hearts the image of 
the church of Christ, and love her with a pure and un- 
selfish love. 



Sermons 1 25 



A Vision of God Through Purity of Heart 

Text : From Matthew, 5 :8 : "Blessed are the pure in 
heart, for they shall see God." 

Let us think first of how we get this vision of God 
and then consider the blessedness of those who get such 
a vision. 

I. How we get a true vision of God. 

To find God, to possess Him and to do His will, has 
been for man the task of all the ages. Starting with the 
world and all its manifold phenomena, Greek philosophy 
set as its task to find the infinite — the First Cause. For 
Hebrew wisdom, God was the starting point, and the prob- 
lem for the believer was how to put himself in line with 
God. Whether in philosophy or in religion, God has been 
the chief aim or supreme desire in all the centuries. The 
Psalmist did not express merely the longing of his soul, 
or that of Israel, but also the deep yearning of the heart of 
humanity, when he said : "As the hart panteth after the 
water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." (Ps. 
42:1-2.) It was to reveal God and satisfy this longing 
for the human soul that Jesus lived and died. He taught 
us that to have a true knowledge or vision of God is to 
have eternal life. "And this is life eternal, that they should 
know thee, the only true God, and him whom thou wouldst 
send, even Jesus Christ." (John 17:3.) But when Jesus 
said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," 
He lifted this problem out of the sphere of science and 
philosophy, as those terms are generally accepted, and placed 
it solely within the moral and spiritual sphere. While it 
is true that God is in all true science, and that all philos- 
ophic truth is God's truth, yet He is to be found and known 
in the sphere of moral activity, and practical obedience to 
His will. Accordingly, if we are to gain a vision of God. 
it is to be done, not by turning the telescope upon the 
heavens, and standing amazed at the vastness of the uni- 
verse, but by looking through the eyes of a surrendered 



126 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

will and purified heart. The sciences, of which theology, 
taken in its broadest sense, is queen, have their proper place 
in the evolution of human thought and the onward and 
upward march of the human race. Nevertheless, it is not 
the trained and keen intellects, but the pure in heart, that 
feel God's tenderness and know that He is. His Spirit 
bears witness, teaches, and communes with the pure in 
heart. 

It is appalling how darkened becomes our vision of 
God and of divine things when sin is cherished and fos- 
tered in the heart. Impurity so veils the soul as to hide 
God from our view. It breaks the flow of our fellowship 
and intercepts our vision of Him who is too high and holy 
to reveal Himself to the profane and irreverent. Many of 
you have stood in some eastern valley and watched the set- 
ting sun. As the sun went down in the western sky, some 
huge mountain arose before your gaze, intercepting more 
and more the light of day, until soon the whole valley was 
flooded with night and you stood submerged in thick dark- 
ness. Just so some of you today are wondering why there 
is no light for your soul, no vision of God. The mountain 
of sin has arisen between you and the light of the world, 
and whatever light you may have had in former days has 
fled before the gross darkness of sin. But when sin is cast 
out and purity enthroned in the heart, it is like the dis- 
pelling of night before the brightness of the morning sun. 
As the hill top and valley are kissed and beautified by the 
renewed sunlight, so our souls are touched and lighted by 
God's presence, and we have a vision which fills the heart 
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. If then you would 
see God, if you would possess Him and do His will, be 
right with men, be clean and pure in life, and "keep thy 
heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." 

There is a prevalent idea today that the quality of 
one's religion depends largely upon the accuracy with which 
one adheres to certain intellectual and dogmatic proposi- 
tions regarding the Christian faith. In this age of real 
enlightenment, when we Protestants boast of our deliver- 



Sermons 1 27 

ance from medieval theological darkness and night; when 
we no longer have, nor desire to have, a divine Thomas 
Aquinas to think for us and dictate what form our faith 
shall take, it ought to be unnecessary to assert that the 
Christian faith does not consist of intellectual assent to a 
formulated and prescribed dogmatic creed. There is a great 
difference between faith itself and the form in which faith 
clothes itself. In our servility to form, we separate our- 
selves from God to worship an image which man has made ; 
if faith is the gift of God, the form of faith is the work of 
man. The soundness of my faith, the purity of my re- 
ligion, and the clearness of my visions of God, do not de- 
pend upon my accepting in toto the creedal decisions of 
ecumenical councils. The very genius of the Christian 
religion opposes intellectual slavery ; it antagonizes the per- 
functory imitation of the mere copyist, and unqualifiedly 
condemns the religious and theological parasite. The faith 
that finds God and worships Him is not an intellectual 
assent to dogma, nor any other mere intellectual process. 
It is grounded in and springs out of the moral life. The 
very core and essence of the Christian religion is fellow- 
ship with God through Jesus Christ, who is the mediator 
of this new and blessed relationship. As Christians, we 
come into this fellowship by a moral surrender to the im- 
pelling power of the inner life of Jesus Christ. We continue 
therein through a divine companionship which demands 
devotion of heart and purity of life. It is this fact that 
makes our text true. It is for this reason that the pure 
in heart see God. Jesus was conscious of an entirely 
unique and unutterable fellowship with God which has 
exalted His name above every other. The measure of the 
exaltation of Jesus' life above every other is the fullness 
of the inflowing into Him of the divine life and character. 
But, mark you, this inflowing of the divine life and character 
involves the outflow from life of all that is incompatible 
with goodness, love, purity, and divine righteousness. We, 
therefore, reassert that if you would find God, if you would 
possess Him and do His will, be right with men, be clean 



128 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 



and pure in your life, and then shall you surely realize in 
your experience a blessed vision of God through purity 
of heart. 

"Blest are the pure in heart, for they shall see their God; 
The secret of the Lord is theirs ; their soul is Christ's abode. 
He to the lowly soul doth still Himself impart, 
And for His dwelling and His throne, chooseth the pure in 

heart. 
Lord ! we Thy presence seek ; may ours this blessing be : 
Give us the pure and lowly heart — a temple meet for Thee." 

II. With a vision of God comes a blessedness that only 
the pure in heart can ever know. The verdict of the world's 
sanest minds and purest hearts has been that man's highest 
good is to be found in possessing God and doing His will. 
Our highest, most sacred and most blessed relations in life 
are personal relations ; and our friends satisfy us and enrich 
our lives according to the riches of the life they reveal to 
us. In the personality of God dwells all fullness, and he 
who gets the vision of the boundless riches of the life of 
God has unfathomable resources of joy. And just this is 
the blessedness of the pure in heart. Our joy is never so 
sweet, so profound, so boundless, as when it springs out 
of an unbroken and undisturbed communion with God. 
God in the soul is our highest guarantee of transporting 
delight and rapturous joy. 

In Paul's letter to the Philippians we have what may 
seem to the uninitiated a strange anomaly. The great 
apostle, in Roman chains, not knowing what hour his head 
may fall, rises to magnificent heights and, out of chains 
and maltreatment endured for Christ's sake, he cries : "Re- 
joice in the Lord always ; again I will say, rejoice. . . . 
In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and 
thanksgiving let your requests be made unto God. And 
the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall 
guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." 
Our joy does not depend on what is without the heart, but 



Sermons 1 29 

what is within ; not on environment, but on the internal 
condition; not on material and worldly gains, but on moral 
and spiritual possessions. One may be clothed in purple 
and housed in a palatial mansion, with all the comforts 
and splendors of kings, and still be forlorn, miserable, 
heart-sick and soul-burdened ; for that soul upon which 
heaven sheds no light and to which God is a stranger must 
be something like a seething caldron of bewilderment, or 
a deep, dark and dismal dungeon, or a miniature world 
wandering aimlessly through space, knowing neither its 
origin nor destiny. But it is not so with those who have 
found God and have put themselves in harmony with His 
will. They have chosen the better part, they have found 
the pearl of great price, they have come into possession 
of the soul's greatest and priceless heritage, and have 
thereby become masters of themselves and independent of 
their environment. That the gospel of Jesus can liberate 
from world-enslavement and give songs even in the night, 
has been exemplified in history a thousand times over. It 
calms and gives poise to the soul even when our little bark 
is tempest-tossed and rock-beaten. It does not remove the 
storm, but it anchors the ship. It does not take away 
trouble nor remove cares, but it lifts the soul above them 
and makes us see beyond all passing clouds of evil the 
eternal sunshine. 

You have seen the eagle spread out his wings and soar 
round and round until he rises above the little hill ; then 
soaring round and round until he has reached the highest 
mountain peak, and still he rises higher and higher until 
he passes above and beyond the storm-cloud into the clear 
blue sky. Just so we can mount upon the wings of faith 
and trust and hope, and rise higher and higher until we 
soar above the storms of earthly care and perplexing anx- 
iety and rest in the clear sky of God's love and grace. 
Then all things become ours and for our good. Even death 
itself becomes to us only a passport into the bosom of the 
Eternal God for whom we were made and in whom we 
shall rest and rejoice forever more. But without God we 



130 Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 

grow tired and weary of life's rugged journey. We long 
to lie down like a weary child and "weep this life away." 
It is then the gentle voice of the Master, "Come unto me 
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest," comes to us like a new song, imparting that myster- 
ious peace which comes only by resting in God. Clouds 
are driven from the sky. The day-dawn drives away our 
night, and the soul becomes "bright with the beauty and 
celestial glory of an immortal grace." 

Oh, sweet, sustaining trust in God, that clears life's 
clouded sky and lets in the soft, radiant light of the Father's 
face ; that reconciles contentment with aspiration, and blends 
activity with repose. May this our blessing be ! 






BE STRONG. 

Be strong! 
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift. 
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift. 
Shun not the struggle ; face it. Tis God's gift. 

Be strong! 
Say not the days are evil, — who's to blame? 
And fold the hands and acquiesce — O shame ! 
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God's name. 

Be strong! 
It matters not how deep intrenched the wrong; 
How hard the battle goes, the day, how long. 
Faint not ; fight on ! Tomorrow comes the song. 

Maltbie D. Babcock. 






^m 



13 1910 



LEMr'10 



Rev. J. W. T. McNiel 






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